Limitless
by Cuddly Cat
Summary: At a young age Naruto ends up being saved from certain death by a hero. Striving to become one himself he comes upon someone willing to embark on the journey with him. Re-imagining themselves, they will become what they have long aspired to be… heroes. Strong!Powerful!Smart! Naruto/Mosquito Girl/Tatsumaki/Harem, Big Bro!Strong! (Obviously) Saitama
1. Hero

**Note:** School is over so expect updates for some of my already existing stories as well as new uploads in the coming weeks. It feels so good to write a fight scene again – I might be a little bit rusty since I haven't written one in a few months so bear with me as I get warmed up. Some feedback on my fight scenes would be great. If this chapter seems lacking in some fashion please take into account lack of sleep due to finals.

* * *

 **Warning:** _This chapter and subsequent story is to be rated accordingly for language, suggestive themes, violence, and potential gore. If at some point I do decide to incorporate lemons they shall likely be in their own separate story instead in order to not hinder the viewing pleasure of others, or I will give fair warning to their inclusion in a chapter, the romance and subsequent relationships though will still remain in the story…_

 **Official Disclaimer:** _I do not own Naruto, One Punch Man or any referenced or related works in that may appear in this story. If there ever is an OC inclusion in this or any of my stories, the resemblance of a name and/or physical appearance to anyone living or deceased is completely coincidental._ _ _All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the sole property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author._ The right of any pictures or art I will ever use go to their respective owners, if said artist would like the picture removed from my profile or story, for that is where it would most likely be, please say so instead of jumping to conclusions of infringement. __No copyright infringement is intended._

 _The cover image used for this story is an edited version of an image that belongs to the deviantart artist_ **hmongt** _titled_ Genos-Chan _. I don't intend to take credit for said artist's artwork and my sole handiwork on the image was the slight editing I did on it. I have sent the artist a message asking for their permission to use the image, but have yet to hear back from them on the matter. Pending their reply the image will either be replaced or kept up. I make no profit from this story._

* * *

Chapter I

* * *

 **Hero**

Naruto looked on with wide bewildered eyes as he observed an entire city vanish in an instant from the face of the earth. Flame and mortar reigning supreme in this hellish landscape as the skies above parted from the force of the attack – the land itself giving way to such might.

Turning his frightful eyes towards the source of the attack they settled themselves upon the back of this most monstrous of perpetrators.

The monster being none other than a petite woman that was wearing a formfitting black dress with long sleeves and four high-cut leg slits, the outfit being finished by simple yet elegant looking low-heeled black shoes. From his current angle he was unable to see her face as all he could gaze upon was her back and the emerald green hair she sported which curled up at the ends.

The petite female currently being outlined by a slowly diminishing emerald green glow, her outstretched hand turned towards the now ruined city. The female, releasing a long shuddering breath she had not known she had been holding, lowered her arm back to her side as the green outline that had enveloped her form finally faded. Her shoulders visibly slumping as the weight of her actions today seemed to fall atop them.

Casting her head down towards the ground for a moment, she contemplated her actions, her thoughts wandering on the number of people whose lives she had just ended without a single thought – without a single word.

She truly was a monster…

Breaking her out of her self-destructive thoughts a cry rang out – pitiful and heart-wrenching it brought her back to the true victim of this most grand of tragedies. Turning her head to regard the little boy that she had just killed 1.7 million people for, she gazed upon his dirty tear streaked face as he mourned the loss of the only place he had ever known – of the only people he had ever seen...

His cries ringing out across the newly formed valley and echoing in this vast empty expanse. Like the most mournful of melodies she couldn't help finding herself drawn to it – captivated by this child whose tragic past she had just ended. She having brought this dark chapter of the boy's life to a close singlehandedly.

As Naruto watched the monster turn towards him his cries turned to nothing more than mere whimpers of discontent as they died in his throat – as he saw those haunting emerald eyes turn to regard him.

Cowering as the woman approached him, he was overcome by an overwhelming sense of fear that was almost instinctual in nature. This woman that had extinguished so many lives in an instant had now set her gaze upon him. Would his flame too be quenched by her indomitable will? His meager and short existence brought to an end just as so many others had perished on this day?

 _ **No…**_

Tatsumaki stopped short for a second as she observed the change in demeanor in the previously cowering boy. His cries falling silent as his sapphire blue eyes turned to regard her with not fear, but the ferocity of a cornered animal – of someone pushed to the edge of desperation after a series of events beyond their control had led them to such a position that they could no longer differentiate the good from the bad, the hero from the villain. The numerous events that had transpired over the course of this day having been too much for the young boy to handle.

A spark seemed to light itself deep within the boy's eyes as a will not his own took ahold of his body – as instinct won over fear. As his desire to survive outweighed all human limitations with which he may have been inhibited by.

" **Ahhhhhh!"** he cried out as thousands of thick roots burst from his back and embedded themselves into the earth, they branching out rapidly. Trees bursting from the ground and climbing to unimaginable heights as greenery and life blossomed all around him. Slowly his shimmering blonde hair seemed to lose its vibrancy as it faded to an ethereal white – his eyes themselves burning with a ferocity that was almost maddening in its intensity.

Tatsumaki looked surprised at the sudden display before her eyes narrowed as she observed the roots which had previously been spreading rapidly in all directions converge on her position. Looking back at the boy however, her eyes softened once more as she saw the tears streaming down his cheeks as he regarded her with those same fearful blue orbs of his.

He was so much like her that it frightened her, she needed to get him under control before he truly lost all form of reasoning to his instincts. His abilities were much too unstable to risk him losing control of his emotions to such a degree, she could only hope that he managed to gain a better control over his abilities with time.

As the thousands of roots tunneled their way towards her position, her eyes became alight with power – chunks of earth being ripped from the earth as they hovered around her. Her hair seeming to upturn slightly as some invisible force encompassed her form, it causing the tail ends of her dress to billow behind her.

 _ **He would live…**_

Suddenly hundreds of roots burst from the ground as they merged into a singular massive construct, it taking the appearance of a massive wooden dragon that was covered in greenery, seemingly overflowing with life. Where it trailed over life blossomed, yet where it headed only certain destruction could follow. Writhing towards her like some sky-bound serpent as vines enveloped its form, its cavernous maw parted open in a silent roar as it threatened to devour her and much of the surrounding landscape whole.

As it descended upon her with all the might of a falling star – she simply raised a single arm towards it as that same emerald green outline from before encompassed her just before the serpentine manifestation of life crashed into her. The nature construct tearing itself apart as it impacted her barrier, revealing a red core where its head had previously been. Her hair billowing back as the massive juggernaut of nature collided against her with the full force of nature itself at it's heels.

In an instant the impact caused the land behind her to be completely overturned for miles as the landscape was destroyed from the massive force she had just halted in its tracks. It having caused her to actually take a step back in surprise as she had underestimated how powerful the attack truly was. She had simply taken into account it base traits rather than the being that had created it, or the strange energy residing within it. What she had thought would perhaps be an attack that was in the _Demon_ range actually bordering dangerously close to _Dragon_. Perhaps she should have taken its base appearance as a clue…

The dragon continued to deconstruct itself as she pushed it back along with the red core that resided within it.

"No" the boy whispered fearfully as he saw his attack be halted so effortlessly **"Nooo!"** Naruto roared as numerous vines encompassed the red orb as it pulsed with life and reconstructed the dragon. The action surprising Tatsumaki as she deftly avoided the incoming attack – the dragon barreling past her at high velocity as it cut through the air at twice the speed from before.

Tatsumaki then observed as from the land behind the boy, which had seemingly been terraformed into a lush forest, burst forth dozens of more dragons identical to the first one. Those each branching off into numerous smaller ones as thousands of them rained down upon her from above. The original dragon curving upwards as it too broke off into dozens of identical smaller dragons. Casting a quick glance at the boy she saw that his arms were both now rooted to the ground and his hair was fully snow-white as his head hung weakly whilst his eyes regarded her with abject fear. She needed to stop this, if this continued any longer the boy was going to kill himself.

It was then that she started to take the situation seriously, casting her hands to the sky she gestured towards the thousands of incoming projectiles as they were all enveloped in a greenish glow and were halted mid-air. Clenching her hands into fists she observed as each of the dragon heads exploded violently – showering the surrounding area in foliage just as each of the dragon's long elongated bodies withered and died.

Her enhanced senses picking up something tunneling underground Tatsumaki quickly used her powers to blast upwards into the air just as thousands of tentacle-like roots burst from the ground trailing after her. She twisting out of the way of their grasp as she employed her telekinetic abilities to enable her to take flight and keep out of reach of the living forest that now surrounded Naruto.

Sensing Naruto's life force waning and feeling her heart cry out for the child she did something that in retrospect she would consider foolish, if not downright insane. She cutting off her ability to take flight and casting herself into the living forest that had taken root down below.

Her sister who had been looking on from afar from a protective shielding she had formed crying out in fear at Tatsumaki's seemingly suicidal move. The young girl observing her big sister plummet into the depths of the monstrous forest that seemed to continuously be spreading upwards and outwards as it threatened to consume all beneath its massive canopy.

Instantly hundreds of thorned vines threatened to pull her into their deathly embrace, the forest itself attempting to hinder her progress as it impeded her path. Tatsumaki in turn using her powers to maneuver around each and every one of them as she shredded the one's that got too close, whilst clearing a path toward the quickly fading boy. Finding the action growing incredibly tedious to do as she approached the origin of this forest, she used her powers to raise two great slabs of earth on either side of her – cutting off the majority of the forest from her path as she broke it off into sections.

What she didn't expect was for the forest to use this to its advantage as the path was instantly flooded by a wave of thorned vines that rapidly cascaded towards her. Growing tired of these obstacles and knowing that she only had to reach the boy to end this she used her powers to take her to her destination rather than work her way there.

Shooting forwards at high-velocity she blasted straight through the garden of thorns all the way towards her "little prince". The thorns being shredded by the action as she reached the boy in a mere instant. Her clothes in tatters and numerous small cuts littering her skin – a few thorned vines still clinging lifelessly to her form.

Looking down upon the young boy she found numerous flowers around him while strange vine-like veins visibly crawled under his skin. Looking into his fearful currently golden eyes as he channeled the strange energy within him she finally understood, to this boy who was fully ignorant of the world – she was death. A being capable of ending life but with a wave of her hand. She was a monster… but in his mind so was he.

As Tatsumaki bent down the boy instantly clenched his eyes shut fearfully whilst the forestry around them was kept at bay by her overwhelming might – any foliage that came too close being shredded instantly.

The boy was prepared for many things, death being foremost amongst them, however he was fully unprepared for what came next.

"It's okay"

Instantly the forest fell silent – the rustling and digging giving way to silence as the massive dome of foliage that now surrounded them went still in their efforts to break through her barrier.

Tenderly she had pulled the boy into an embrace, she resting his head gently against her shoulder whilst a soft smile found its way to her face. The boy wide-eyed at the unfamiliar action and unable to resist as his arms were still fully rooted to the ground. It ultimately bringing him back to his senses as his hair bled back to its brilliant gold and his eyes shifted back to their ocean blue.

"No one's going to hurt you ever again"

Uprooting his arms from the now rich soil beneath them he revealed the limbs to be covered in thick roots and bark. Not knowing how to respond to the action he made to wrap his arms around her – just as a wicked grin appeared on his face and his eyes dilated back into golden pupils, his hands shifting into massive wicked looking claws behind her back.

However as he made to dismember the woman and truly lose himself to that animalistic part of him her voice called out to him once more, pulling him from the depths of his own madness with a gentle utterance which seemed to cause a lifetime's worth of loneliness to come crashing down upon him. A mother, a father, a brother, a friend – the family and companionship he lacked. Guidance, friendship, dreams, understanding, love – all the things he had craved for since as far back as he could remember.

"I'm here for you"

Slowly his claws retracted as the skin around his arms lost its greenish hue, the vines around said limbs going back under his skin before fading completely as he wrapped his arms around the older teen – tears brimming at the corners of his eyes blurring his vision.

"Let it out" she whispered softly, a small smile on her face – she used to playing the motherly role for her little sister.

"Waaahh!" Naruto cried as he clung to the older teen's black dress and let out a lifetime's worth of tears as Tatsumaki looked on softly at the small boy in her arms.

Yes, so much like her when she was his age – with just a dash of Fubaki's clinginess for good measure. He was like the little brother she never had, another lost soul persecuted due to the prejudiced and superstitious nature of man.

Monsters had feelings too…

They had families…

Dreams…

Some even wore human skin like her and her sister, as no matter what they looked like or did those that were different would always be regaled as freakish – as monstrous. Monsters like them needed to stick together.

Feeling the forest around them begin to grow restless she knew that they needed to leave soon. Looking back at the young boy she saw him lift his head to regard her with shimmering blue eyes – large droplet like tears streaming down his cheeks as he looked at her with the wonder and awe only a child could possess.

Greedily taking in her face he devoured every detail hungrily as he committed every bit of her face to memory. Observing a small droplet of blood trail down from a cut on her brow all the way to her cheek, he felt a pang of guilt course through him.

That was his doing…

He had hurt her – this was all his fault. If he had never met her… if he had never led her back to the city on that day, none of this would have happened.

He wanted to say he was sorry, but he simply had not the words to communicate such a sentiment. He never having learned how to properly speak.

Reaching up with a trembling hand he delicately cupped her cheek directly over where the droplet of blood laid. The action causing the older teen to tilt her head cutely to the side in confusion.

However all questions in her mind were banished as a euphoric sensation coursed through her – crawling over her skin and licking at her with tongues of fire. It was so overwhelming it caused her mind to blank and for her to close her eyes as it enveloped her – consumed her. It was indescribable.

Suddenly her wounds, numerous yet small as they may have been, healed over as she was invigorated once more.

Opening her eyes she observed that whatever the boy was doing had caused him to take on a green outline not much unlike her own as hundreds of flowers blossomed around them.

At this point the forest had reached a tumult as it wildly shifted around them, threatening to consume them both in the middle of this sea of life. Yet they were the eye, the epicenter of this storm that raged as much within their hearts as it did their surroundings.

The boy retracting his now bloodstained hand looked at it sadly for a second as he regarded it with an expression that was out of place on one so young. Why was it that today he felt that he lost more than his home? Than his people?

Suddenly his eyes widened as he felt a pair of lips gently press themselves upon his forehead causing him to go stiff at the alien sensation. Tatsumaki pulling back was rewarded by the wide eyes of the boy as he looked at her smiling face confusedly.

"Thank you" she said gratefully, just as she herself went wide-eyed as the boy jumped straight into her arms and pulled her right back into a hug. The action causing her to stagger slightly backwards in surprise.

Smiling at him as she patted his head, she looked around to see the entire forest seemingly attempting to break through her barrier – even the portion of it that was underground being assaulted by hundreds of roots as they attempted to break into their little garden.

Naruto tearing himself away from her observed the dilemma they now found themselves in because of his fear. The forest wanted him back, with him it could continue to grow – to spread.

Digging his nails into his palm he willed himself to bleed – his blood mingling beautifully with that of the girl beside him – and allowed a single drop to fall upon the fertile soil upon which they stood. Tatsumaki regarding the action curiously – sure she could escape, but it would be difficult to do so with the boy in tow.

Feeling the ground rumble beneath her she braced herself as she held the boy more tightly in her arms. Suddenly blasting upwards they found themselves rapidly ascending through the forest as she kept the barrier firmly around them, causing them to tear through the surrounding foliage and blast straight through the forest's massive canopy. The two of them being atop what looked like a giant stem with a rapidly blooming red flower at the crown.

The forest seemed to grow more agitated at the action before it all suddenly exploded upwards as it coiled along the giant stem. Intent on not letting its prize get away, it shrunk its borders as the trees and plant life grew at an unprecedented rate as it made chase after them.

The flower reaching its peak finally bloomed fully and prompted Tatsumaki to blast off it farther into the sky with the boy in hand as a greenish outline enveloped her once more. Holding onto Naruto with one arm she looked down at the monstrous mass of life that was climbing upwards towards them as she regarded it coldly.

Quickly leveling her free hand towards it she channeled a massive amount of power into her attack before she released it. The attack actually causing waves of green energy to burst free from her hand from how much she was channeling at the moment – instantly the entire forest seemed to buckle under some unseen pressure as the earth cracked.

"Disappear" she uttered coldly just as the entire forest fell apart and the ground exploded beneath it. The forest being fully consumed in the wake of her attack as it was crushed into nothingness and greedily devoured by giant avalanches of earth.

Meanwhile Naruto could only look at the woman in awe as he saw this happen before his very eyes. She could have ended this entire "fight" any moment she wanted to, yet she had willingly placed herself in harm's way and gotten injured just for him. Instantly his already massive respect for the woman grew even higher.

It was then that he decided at that very moment, as he gazed at her smiling face as she turned to regard him… his definition of a hero.

* * *

 **-X-**

 _Several years later…_

Naruto feeling someone interrupt his sleep blearily opened his eyes. He was having that dream again, the one with the green haired girl that had saved him all those years ago. The one that had inspired him to become a hero…

"Otouto, Naruto, Naru-chan, Naruto-kun" someone said as they repeatedly poked his cheek, this likely being the person that had woken him. Yet as annoying as the action was he really couldn't find it in himself to care, the bed just felt so damn good…

"Oi, wake up baldy" instantly Naruto's eyes shot open as a tick mark formed itself on his head as he turned to regard the person that had ruined his sleep so nonchalantly.

"Shut up! You're the baldy!" Naruto shouted back as he came face to face with someone that proved that his statement was in fact true. The man before him was very much bald and had a nonchalant bored expression on his face, yet Naruto could clearly make out a hint of mischief in his usually dull eyes.

The man had sharp features set firmly on a bored complexion and sported a thin, but well-built physique of average height and weight. This was none other than Naruto's big brother and half-assed role-model Saitama.

Said man then proceeding to poke Naruto's face once more without breaking eye-contact as he sunk his finger into Naruto's cheek.

"Would you quit it!?" Naruto shouted as he slapped the man's hand away, he noticing the tiniest of smirk's play across the man's face, "So what do you want, I was having a really good dream you know." Naruto said tiredly as he rested his head back down on his pillow, not really angry at the older male as he was used to his antics.

The man simply pulled out a flyer and held it out at eye-level for Naruto to see.

 _Saturday Only! Big Sale!_

"So? Today's Monday," Naruto said confusedly as he looked at a calendar that was currently pinned to the wall with a thumbtack. Saturday having a red circle around it with a note to go to the sale. Sales were usually bi-weekly and tended to be what got them through the month more often than not.

The bald man simply pulled the flyer back for a second as he looked at it before he pointed to a small line of text off to the corner.

Squinting Naruto barely managed to see the small text;

 _Except seafood and assorted crustaceans which are to go on sale on Monday during the lunch hour special._

"Why those little cheats, try to pass a fast one on us will they?" Naruto said with a dangerous smile, turning to regard his brother he voiced his thoughts on the matter.

"Crab legs?"

"Crab legs" Saitama replied with a nod as they came to a decision on what they were going to do for the day.

Getting out of bed as his brother stood up Naruto quickly rolled up his futon and made to get breakfast ready while his brother sat himself in front of the T.V. to see if there was anything interesting on the morning news.

"What time is it?" Naruto asked as he got breakfast started for the two of them; it consisting of a bowl of white rice for each of them that he heated up from yesterday's dinner, along with some natto on the side – for texture. Two fried eggs with accompanying seasonings for each of them which were currently still sizzling on the frying pan at the moment. Finally he had some of his signature tea currently boiling off to the side, a toast for each of them, along with a banana to finish it off for a fairly well balanced meal.

"8:20" came the reply from the living room as Saitama scratched his belly uncaringly

"What the crap!? What happened to the alarm clock!?" Naruto shouted as he peeked his head out of the kitchen.

Saitama merely pointing towards a hole in the wall where he had punched said alarm clock through.

"It surprised me" Saitama replied simplistically

"What type of half-assed response is that!?" Naruto demanded

"I was having a _really_ good dream" he added as if that explained everything

"Oh well if you were having a good dream then – Do you think I care you baka!" Naruto shouted as he threw a potato at Saitama's head, causing said vegetable to explode on contact with the man's dome.

Reaching up a finger Saitama scooped some up and licked it.

"These potatoes are mashed, yet oddly undercooked – you're letting your cooking slip Naruto." Saitama said as he looked at the blonde teen apathetically, causing Naruto to grow a tick mark on his head at that.

"I want that hole in the wall fixed" Naruto said seriously as he headed back into the kitchen. His tone booking no argument on the matter.

"Why don't you just use your powers to fix it?" Saitama whined as he threw himself on his futon.

"Because then you wouldn't learn your lesson now would you? I swear this building is more my handiwork than any contractor…" Naruto mumbled under his breath as he got back to cooking breakfast.

Hearing someone shouting from the T.V. as explosions rang out in the background Naruto knew that today was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **-X-**

Naruto looked over himself in the mirror; he had fixed his hair, brushed his teeth, taken a quick morning shower, and eaten breakfast. There was now only one thing standing between him and a trip to the supermarket with Saitama…

"Where the hell is my cape?" Naruto asked as he looked towards where he normally had it along with his costume.

"In the wash" Saitama replied as he bit down on his slice of toast whilst reading through a manga while he waited. One reason that he was grateful of not having hair was that it cut down his morning prep-time by a few minutes.

He himself was wearing a costume consisting of a plain yellow jumpsuit with a short zipper at the collar and a belt. The costume being finished out by a red ensemble of boots, gloves and a white cape.

"What, but I thought we did the laundry yesterday?" Naruto asked in confusion

"No, we did the clothes yesterday – we still have the blankets left to do. Your cape should be in that pile." Saitama said uncaringly just as Naruto found it

"Eww, it's stained with blood," Naruto complained "Do you think we have enough time to wash it?" Naruto asked as he looked back at Saitama over his shoulder.

"Sure, but the bad guy might leave by then – I'll just go on ahead..." Saitama said as he made to leave

"No, wait! I'll just hand wash it, it'll take like a second!" Naruto begged

"Fine, but hurry up," Saitama said as he sat back down and continued to read, not really letting the fact that the longer he waited the more people would die phase him. "Make sure not to do it so fast that you tear it in half like last time."

A flurry of his hands, a bit of soap, some water, and a burst of flame later Naruto was ready.

"Heh-hee" Naruto grinned cockily as he stepped out of their joint bathroom "Look good don't I?"

Naruto was wearing a light-orange jumpsuit nearly identical to his brother's, it too having a short zipper at the collar and a belt. The costume was finished out by a blue ensemble of boots, gloves and a red cape that he and his brother tended to trade off depending on their mood. It was a fashion sin… just like his brother's costume.

It didn't go too well with his powers and skill set, but hell if he cared, it had been a gift and they needed the money for more important things. Maybe when they actually had some cash…

"Yeah, almost as good as me" Saitama answered with a small smirk, he not giving up the chance to tease his little brother when it presented itself.

"Whatever, let's get going – City A right?"

"Yep, then crab legs" Saitama replied as he adjusted his gloves

"Of course" Naruto agreed as he slung his cape over his shoulder

* * *

-X-

 _City A_

"He looks weird – is that him?" Naruto asked

"Don't know, he looks evil enough though" Saitama replied as the two of them looked at the scene from atop of one of the large mountains of rubble in the area, they both being prone as they gazed at their prime suspect through a pair of binoculars.

Said suspect was a tall hairless being about the size of a large man, he having two rounded antennae on his head. The alien like creature had a very muscular body with its skin being an amethyst color that bordered on royal blue. However the most disturbing aspect of the villain to them was…

"He's naked, even if he's not the baddie we're looking for we would be doing society a favor by taking out an exhibitionist of his caliber." Naruto commented wryly as he put his binoculars away

"No, I'm pretty sure that he's the villain, our second naked one this week too – maybe it's in style…" Saitama commented thoughtfully

"Sure because it's all the rage among psychopathic villains to go bare out in public, because that's just sooooo intimidating." Naruto said sarcastically as he played with a large chunk of concrete by chucking it into the air while waiting for his brother to decide on what they were going to do. Sure the guy was a baddie, but all they had on him so far was that he was an exhibitionist as most of City A was already leveled.

"Ah, there's a little girl out there." Saitama remarked

"…well I guess some more inadequate men could feel intimidated by the difference in size – that is if these baddies actually had genitalia – wait what did you say?" Naruto asked as his head shot to the side – he completely forgetting about the chunk of concrete he was juggling as it crashed into Saitama's head and broke apart. Saitama himself not giving any inclination that he noticed – or cared about the accident.

"I said there's a little girl crying over there, big blue is heading towards her right now."

"Where is she?" Naruto demanded

"Over there," Saitama answered as he pointed off into the distance while still looking through the binoculars "She's wearing a jacket that spells out 'School Girl' and has her hair done up pig-tails."

"That's pretty damn cute, we need more cute little children to save and attractive females to rescue." Naruto commented idly as he stood up and dusted his cape

"I know those superhero comics and shounen manga play those up so much – that and epic fight scenes." Saitama replied as he too got up

"Damn manga's instilling false hope" Naruto agreed, just as a thought came to him – a large, evil, and very naked perverted monster was currently about to grab a cute little girl…

" **Oh hell no**!" Naruto exclaimed as he blasted towards the scene, the ground cratering behind him as he easily broke the sound-barrier without even really trying to. Saitama's cape billowing behind him for a second before he slowly turned towards where his brother had disappeared before following suit as the ground exploded behind him.

 **-X-**

Just as the monster was about to grab the crying little girl and crush her in its massive grip did a streak of gold flash by just as he closed his fist, only to find… nothing.

Looking off to the side the monster spotted a blonde haired teen wearing a strange ensemble with an accompanying red cape billowing behind him. The girl from before looking at said teen curiously as she managed to get ahold of herself enough to register the situation she found herself in, as well as the monster that almost ended her – the revelation causing her to immediately cling closer to him out of fear.

The teen, being none other than Naruto immediately sensing her discontent flooded her senses with a calming sensation that soon enough had her knocked out – the last thing she would remember before she woke up being his sapphire blue eyes.

"Who are you?" the monster demanded as it narrowed its eyes as it regarded him

Turning to regard the monster after carefully placing the girl out of harm's way Naruto gave him a withering look.

"A guy that's missing a trip to the grocery store to talk to you, can we speed this along?"

"Such impudence, you know not who you are regarding with such disrespect. I was born from the constant stream of pollution with which you humans have suffused the earth. I am Vaccine Man!" the newly titled Vaccine Man shouted passionately as he gestured to himself. This being the monster that had destroyed most of City A and taken out two A-class heroes with little effort.

"The Earth is a living organism. You humans are nothing more than a disease-causing bacteria eating away at her life-force. In order to obliterate all humans and their pitiful civilization, **the Earth has created me!"** the monster shouted as he shifted into an even more monstrous form resembling a cross between a large dinosaur and a demon, it wielding vicious claws and fangs. Naruto not looking phased in the least as the monstrous being towered over him.

" **You dare mock my mission, disregard my will to purge this earth!?"** the being ranted as it went into a full on diatribe **"How dare you confront me, Mother Nature's apostle in such a disrespectful manner!? Yet what more could I expect from a mere-"**

Cutting the monster off as he buried his fist elbow deep into its gut, Naruto instantly sent it blasting backwards at high-velocity mid-tirade… straight towards the waiting Saitama who had been standing idly by as he awaited the pitch. Saitama cocking his fist back as he came up to bat.

The last thing the creature saw amidst the world of pain it found itself in being a red glove coming straight towards its face – just before its entire upper body exploded in a shower of gore from the massive force of the blow. The punch scattering the surrounding cloud coverage for miles in the process as it made contact. The sun shimmering off the man's dome, he regarded what was left of his half-second adversary whilst his blood covered fist was drawn back to his side.

"My name is Saitama, it's nice to meet you" Saitama introduced himself cordially to the remains of Vaccine Man – he having had good manners instilled into him by Naruto. After all, first impressions were important…

"I'm sorry for cutting this brief Nipple Man, but we really need to get going if we want to get the shopping done in time – Naruto are you coming?" Saitama asked as he looked towards where his brother should be only to take on a confused expression.

"Coming!" Naruto shouted with a smile as he headed towards his big brother with something or rather someone in his arms.

"What is that?" Saitama asked as he pointed to the little girl in Naruto's arms, now that he was a little closer he noticed that she wasn't that young, she looking to be around twelve or so, not that it mattered really.

"Oh this, it's a little girl" Naruto responded plainly

"I know that, I mean what are you doing with it?" Saitama asked

"Well I had to knock her out after I rescued her, so it's my responsibility as a hero to get her somewhere safe – right?" Naruto asked as he looked inquisitively at Saitama

"Naruto" Saitama lowly whispered as a shadow shrouded his features and he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder causing him to gulp.

Suddenly the shadow pulled away as Saitama looked at him proudly and gave him the smallest of smiles. "Good job, for this act of heroism you get two more marks on the hero chart on the fridge."

"Alright!" Naruto cheered as big grin formed on his face

"Okay we need to dump her on someone else – I mean get her somewhere safe," Saitama quickly corrected at the look his brother gave him when he suggested such a thing as ditching her in the middle of a ruined city. "Anyways let's just head to one of the emergency shelters and see what we can do, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can head to the sale." Saitama said as he started walking off in some random direction

"Got it big bro," Naruto said with a nod as he followed after his brother while looking at the little girl in his arms "Aww, she's a cute little thing isn't she!" Naruto cooed "Her jacket's pretty cool too, I wonder if she can tell me where to buy one like that…"

"All little kids seem cute Naruto, but deep inside they are the most fearsome little monster's any single hero can face." Saitama said with a fearful expression as he turned to Naruto

"Really?" Naruto asked wide-eyed at the news

"Yes really, after all I took care of you, didn't I?" Saitama said with a small satisfied smirk

"Hey, I resent that!" Naruto shouted back at him as the two of them headed towards the emergency shelter, unknowing of what the future awaited for them.

 _So our two heroes set off! On to find somewhere safe for their little friend, not knowing that this was simply the beginning of a long and treacherous road, paved by the monsters that they would no doubt crush underfoot. A journey of romance, adventure, and most of all overwhelming power… along with all the issues that came with each._

 _After all there's nothing suspicious about two costumed men walking around a ruined city with a little girl in their arms…no, of course not. Our heroes know exactly what they're doing-_

"Agh, she drooled on me! How ungrateful of her – doesn't she know that these costumes have to be hand-washed!?"

 _... Well, at least they're strong._

 _ **A new epic begins as these two heroes fight for their own brand of justice!**_

* * *

 **Which girls would you like to see in the harem? Are the fight scenes any good? Feedback helps me know where to go.**

* * *

 **-X-**

 **Author's Note:**

I tried to properly capture the spirit of One-Punch Man in this story while introducing this new dynamic between Naruto and Saitama. A little bit of inspiration from the film "Origin: Spirits of the Past" and the song "Waiting for Superman"

I have thought this story out far beyond where the manga or even the webcomic is at now so even if I catch up with the source material I can keep the story going if slightly AU. I can't believe the show is almost over, it only goes up to twelve episodes you know. I've been following the series since before it got animated so I understand that the slow updates might make the prospect of a second season one that might take a while if it ever does happen, but I sincerely hope they at least consider it. There's so much potential there – that and the animation is some of the best I've ever seen. It was just so… alive is the best word I can think of.

I think that the reason there's so few stories concerning One-Punch man is because a lot of writer's are intimidated by the prospect of how to moderate a powerful protagonist. Good thing I'm not so easily intimidated.

Now that my schoolwork is wrapping up expect more content from me as well as updates on my pre-existing stories.

 **Chapter Notes:**

Hope I did okay on the fight scenes, like I said I'm a little bit rusty as I just got back on the site this last month and have been plagued with schoolwork ever since. This particular fight scene was one portrayed in the Third-Person and centered mostly around descriptive aspects of the conflict as the scene was meant to simply play out a particular scene and played out more as a memory or flashback that an actual fight occurring at that very moment. Actual fights will be a bit more intricate as they will offer some more perspective from the protagonist which was something that I simply could not do in this particular scene, that and dialogue was nearly impossible as one side could not properly hold up a conversation.

In the first half of this chapter I stated that Naruto lacked the words to express his sentiments, that does not necessarily mean he doesn't know some basic words or can't understand what is being said to him. He can say somethings, he can understand a lot, he just can't properly convey his feelings with mere words. He does not know how to string together sentences at this point in his life and only knows a handful of words that he's heard before and frankly "sorry" just wasn't one of them.

This chapter features a younger Tatsumaki, her abilities are as of yet unrefined and her personality is different due to a number of reasons that shall be explored later on, she has in no way been "nerfed". For instance she hasn't developed full multi-directional control of her psychic abilities and is still fairly dependent on hand movements to control her attacks. She's still fairly OP at this point in her life though, easily capable of leveling cities and handling Dragon level threats by herself. She is not a superhero at this point in her life, especially considering the fact that the Hero Association did not exist at this point in time.


	2. Too bad you can't buy style

_Yay another update! Reason for lack of updates is that I've been really under the weather lately, was sick all through Christmas and New Year's and am only feeling up to writing again now. It is my belief that if you feel like crap your writing will reflect it. So why kill myself trying to write something not that good when I can focus my energy on recovering and write something truly worthwhile. Anyways I'm feeling much better now and hopefully will be back on track and well soon!_

 _This chapter will also mark the first story in the Naruto and One Punch Man crossover to be serialized and achieve more than a single chapter! That's a cool achievement wouldn't you say? Now without further ado here's chapter two!_

* * *

Chapter II

* * *

 **Too bad you can't buy style**

-X-

 _A dynamic duo emerges!_

 _Several Hours later - Emergency Shelter A7_

"Who are you two – and why the hell did you just barge into my office!?" A middle aged man yelled as he regarded the two individuals in front of him. They both looking like they came out of an anime convention with how they were dressed.

"Oh, I'm Saitama, an average guy who's a hero for fun, and this is my little brother-"

"I don't give a shit!" the man cut in, not having the time to waste on the two of them at the moment "Both of you are interfering with my work, don't you know that a monster just destroyed several sectors of the city and that the shelter is nearing critical capacity! I don't have time for costumed fools pretending to be superheroes! If you don't leave my office within the next forty-five seconds I'm going to call the police – and I will have you know that it will be a short wait as they are quite literally next door." The man said as he glared at the two imbeciles in front of him.

Any other day and he would amuse them with hearing them out – that or commit them to a mental asylum, but today wasn't one of those days. Thousands dead and tens of thousands more injured, he had his hand's full at the moment simply keeping the emergency back-up shelter operational as he keep in contact with law-enforcement and the Hero Association. He simply didn't have time for fools, especially with the threat currently raging just beyond these reinforced walls.

"Hmm, otouto you're better at talking to people – talk" Saitama said as he decided it was too much of a bother on trying to argue with what he had immediately labeled as a stubborn old man.

"Fine," Naruto said as he took the sudden shift in responsibility in stride "We're sorry to barge in like this old man, we just came here to help out a friend of ours." he said in all seriousness

'Old? I'm only 37,' the middle aged man thought a bit miffed at that "You got thirty seconds" the director said with a narrowed eyed glare at the two of them causing Naruto to shrug at the reply, while Saitama did not look bothered in the least as he riffled through the man's candy jar.

"You can come in sweetie," Naruto said as he turned towards the door and smiled just as a head peaked through the doorway, revealing a cute little brown haired girl with pigtails – this being the same girl they had rescued when confronting Vaccine Man.

"Come on don't be shy" Naruto gently urged as she walked into the room and quickly clung to Naruto's cape, she not letting go no matter how hard he tried.

"What is this?" the old man questioned, actually a tad bit curious about what this was all about

"We found her," Saitama explained while sucking on a handful of hard candy "She was all by herself in the ruins and we thought it would be for the best if we brought her here"

"Yeah, that and she gave us directions to the place after she woke up. She said that if her parents were anywhere they would be here." Naruto elaborated

"You mean you two just came through that whole mess outside!" the man shouted in clear shock, "I thought the door to this shelter was buried in by a fallen skyscraper!"

"We found a way," Naruto said with a mischievous smirk as he thought of the giant hole now cutting through said skyscraper towards the shelter.

Temporarily satisfied with the answer as he thought they likely could have navigated through the wreckage in some manner, he continued with his questioning "What about the mysterious being, how did you manage to traverse the ruins without raising its suspicions?" he questioned

Normally he would be a bit more apprehensive of the thought of someone entering an emergency shelter after lockdown had been initiated, especially if the possibility existed of them leading a mysterious being to the shelter. However, if that was the case he very much doubted they would all still be alive at this point.

"Didn't you get the news old man?" Naruto questioned disbelievingly as he eyed the old man, after all he would have suspected that the director temporarily in-charge of Emergency shelter A-7 would be privy to such important details.

"What do you mean?" the man asked with a frown

"Big Blue is dead"

*Crack*

"I told you Saitama it's not healthy to chew hard-candy. It'll get stuck in your teeth, remember what happened to your molar," Naruto lectured

"Right, I can bite through steel, but god forbid candy gets stuck in my teeth! That stuff can kill you!" Saitama commented sarcastically, it being a bit confusing as his face looked completely serious as he said this.

"Wait hold on a second, are you telling me that the mysterious being out there is dead?" the director asked in disbelief, he hadn't heard about this from central so how did these two know about it. However as he noticed the strange blue liquid currently staining the gloves of both men before him, suspicions started to mount.

"Sure is" Saitama replied

"As much as it can be" Naruto said with a shrug

"Yep, there's no deader than _dead_ " Saitama playfully commented

"Okay I get it, the mysterious being is dead" the man said amusedly, if a bit annoyed at the two "but if that's the case then why haven't I heard from-"

" **This is an emergency broadcast, as of now we are declaring the all clear for sectors A1-A3 and A7-A9 of City A. All emergency shelters are to recommence rescue attempts and are expected to go through the appropriate procedures to reintroduce their charges into their everyday lives. Those whose jobs are currently found to be inexistent in the wake of this attack are to be offered jobs in the reconstruction attempt of their corresponding sectors. Due to extensive damage, sectors A4-A6 are to remain in code yellow until the appropriate teams are mobilized – that is all."** The emergency intercom blurted out

"Well I'll be damned" the director said surprised as Naruto smiled smugly at that

"See, what did we say!? Told yah he was dead!" Naruto shouted excitedly

"Believe us now old man?" Saitama added

"Well, I'd be hard pressed not to at this point" the director admitted

"So are you going to help us out or not?" Naruto pressed

"What do you – Oh yes, the girl! I'm guessing you want me to run through my data banks to see if her parents are here correct?" the man asked curiously

"Mister, would you help me find my mommy and daddy?" the girl pleaded causing the man to grimace at that.

Now he wasn't a deluded optimist, the chance that the girl's parents had both managed to reach the shelter in time was drastically low. In all likelihood chances were that both parents had died and at the most he would have to get her to any living relatives that she may have. It was likely that the girl was an orphan and she didn't even know it.

Looking through his databanks his thoughts were confirmed as the A-city emergency shelters all came back negative on the girl's parents. Pending the recovery efforts it was very likely that they were dead.

"Well the results came back inconclusive, not surprising considering the fact that we have yet to account for all the people in the shelters at the moment" he lied through his teeth with a smile "If you two could provide me with your contact information and such, I could keep you up to date concerning the matter and inform you if any new developments arise" he offered

"That's fine I suppose" Naruto shrugged, noticing the slight change in the man's demeanor, but chalking it up to relief that the monster was dead as he felt no actual ill intent coming from the man.

"Perfect" the man replied with a disarming smile as he handed the two of them two forms to fill out.

Naruto carefully reading the form while Saitama frowned at his for a moment before handing it over to Naruto who took it without a word.

Seeing the man's curious look Saitama decided to explain himself a bit "We live together" he responded plainly, causing the wheels in the man's head to turn.

"Oh, that makes sense" the old man said with a nod as he waited for Naruto to fill out the forms, after a few minutes of silence he spoke up once more "So are you two together, or…?" he trailed off as he left the insinuation quite clear, causing both Naruto and Saitama to look a little green at that. While the girl merely looked confused at what was being said.

"No! I mean hell no! We're brothers!" Saitama cried out in a rare moment of emotion, said emotion being none other than disgust.

"Really?" the director said, actually surprised at them being brothers of all things, they looked nothing alike after all. Nothing about them hinted at them being related in any way, everything from their jawline to their eye color was completely different. However when looking at the matching outfits they were wearing it was clear that they did in fact have some things in common. "I can see the resemblance" the director said with a small smirk as he looked at their ridiculous ensembles.

Naruto seeing what he was looking at decided to nip such thoughts at the bud "They were a gift" he replied simplistically, a hint of anger permeating his voice.

"I apologize, I meant no disrespect, it's just what with the matching outfits and all…" the director apologized as he conceded that he may have gone a bit too far in teasing the two. He supposed it was a mixture of the ridiculousness of the situation, bundled up with his frayed nerves from the recent incident, and the relief of the all-clear that had prompted him to act so unprofessionally.

"Like Naruto said, they were gifts" Saitama repeated with a narrow-eyed glare at the director causing said man to raise his hands in surrender.

"Plus even if I did roll that way, which I don't, I could do so much better than _that_!" Naruto said with a laugh as he pointed at Saitama with his pen.

"What's that supposed to mean, huh?" Saitama as he redirected his glare towards him "Am I not good enough for you, is that it!? It's because I'm bald isn't it!?" he demanded

"Cool it man, no need to be so sensitive. It's got nothing to do with that, you're just not my type is all" Naruto responded plainly, as he followed up on the joke and caused Saitama to hang his head dejectedly at that.

Right then however they got the response they were looking for as the little girl with them broke out into giggles at the two of them, causing both of them to smile softly at that.

Turning to the director with a smile on his face Naruto handed him the filled out forms "Contact us if there are any developments on the case old man"

"I'm thirty-seven" the director said with a glare as he took the papers in hand

"I don't remember asking _old man_ " Naruto teased with a smirk as he knew he was getting to the man if the angry twitch of his eye was any indication.

"Naruto the sale" Saitama reminded causing Naruto to go wide-eyed at that

"I almost forgot!" Naruto shouted as he looked over at the clock in the office only to find that they only had about a little over an hour to get there "We better get going!"

"Wait, this says you live in the abandoned sector of Z city!" the director cried out in shock as the two made to leave

"Onii-chan are you going to go now?" the little girl asked she grabbed onto Naruto's cape causing the teen to stop in his tracks at that as he turned to regard her "Are you going to leave me behind too, just like mommy and daddy?" she accused with large watery eyes, causing Naruto to take on an ashamed expression at that as he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Damn, who knew that saying goodbye would be so hard? He should have simply done what Saitama said and taken her to the nearest shelter rather than waiting for her to wake up. He should have done as Saitama said and not gotten attached, but he liked seeing things through.

Could he help it that he had wanted to comfort a person that was all alone in the world when he himself knew what it was like to suddenly lose all that you had ever known? Was it so wrong that he had identified with her and gone on to sit with her until she had shed all the tears she had to shed? That he had tried so hard to make her laugh? That he had taken her to get ice-cream before coming here?

Was it wrong that he cared too much?

No, it wasn't he decided. He had been fortunate enough to have someone at the point of his life where he needed it most, to help him when he needed it most. It was for this reason that he had become a hero in the first place, to help those that needed it most.

Actions may often speak louder than words, but often all that was needed was words.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it sweetie. It's just – it's just that these people can do a better job at taking care of you than I can." He tried to explain only to cause her to become even more teary-eyed at his words.

"I knew it, you're leaving me!" she cried out as she let go of his cape with angry tears of frustration streaming down her face at his apparent betrayal.

"No, never!" he declared fiercely causing her to stop crying and look at him hopefully, as he came up short on how he would fix this. Looking at his brother he was only met with a look as clueless as his own as to how to remedy the situation, Saitama only offering a meager shrug in response.

Suddenly being struck by inspiration as he came up with an idea, he quickly turned to the side as he pulled out something from his pocket, said item being none other than a whistle he used to sound off during his and his brother's races during their training. The girl trying vainly to sneak a peek at what he was doing before he suddenly turned towards her with a large grin on his face.

"Tell you what, if you promise to behave and wait here to meet up with your parents. I'll give you my greatest treasure," he said as he waved his hands around dramatically before suddenly bringing forth an ordinary looking metal whistle on a black cord.

"Ooh" she said in apparent awe at the intro before looking at it oddly for a second and turning to him "What is it?"

"I told you, didn't I? It's my greatest treasure!" he declared animatedly, so much so that he almost believed it himself

"Hey, isn't that our practice whistle – guh!" Saitama managed to get out before he got elbowed in the gut by Naruto to shut him up.

"Looks just like an ordinary whistle to me" the girl commented disbelievingly as she looked at it with apparent disinterest.

"Looks can be deceiving, this whistle is special, it's actually thanks to this that both my brother and I are superheroes!" he enthusiastically proclaimed as it was technically true as he had actively used it during the course of their 'training' to keep the two of them on track.

"Wow" the girl whispered in awe as she looked at the ordinary looking whistle in a new light. Now, she was a fairly intelligent twelve year old and as such she wasn't one to take such claims as a magical whistle lightly. However she had seen firsthand the impossible feats that the pair of brothers were capable of. There was no rational explanation that she could come up with for their abilities, if this whistle played _any_ part in making them into what they were now, then it most certainly was a treasure.

"Not only that, but I also have the pitch this particular whistle makes memorized. Which means that no matter how far away it is I can still hear it, this means that when you blow it I will be able to show up just in time to save the day!" he said excitedly, this also being technically true as either brother could pick up the unique sound their training whistles could make from hundreds of miles away.

"Wow, really!?" she shouted in shock at the idea of such an awesome thing as a personal superhero, she nearly jumping in place out of sheer excitement.

"Really, really" he promised with a smile as he gently pressed the whistle against the palm of her hand as he held onto it for a moment "But, you have to promise to only blow it in case of an emergency. I'm sure you know the story of the boy who cried wolf?" he warned as he looked at her sternly, getting a serious nod from her at that before he smiled and let go.

She quickly set about placing the whistle around her neck, "Perfect fit" Naruto commented with a sad smile just as she looked up at him with big watery eyes. Shooting forwards she pulled him into a tight hug as she clung to him desperately whilst burying her face into his shirt.

"I'm going to miss you big brother" the girl cried out as in the short time she had known him she had felt as if she had found someone that really understood her, that shared the pain she felt at the moment.

Naruto could not help but let out a strangled laugh at that. To think that _he_ of all people would have someone calling him big brother was a new experience for him.

Even though he often acted the more mature of the two, he was someone that constantly relied on his brother for emotional support. He was always the little brother, the one that always needed a shoulder to cry on when things got too rough. To be the one supporting someone else was fulfilling in ways he had never imagined possible. Is this what his brother felt like? He the unshakable pillar of the world who could withstand anything and not break under the pressure?

It was painful, it was satisfying. It was happy, it was sad. He didn't even know what to feel – is this sort of responsibility, this sort of strength that was required to hold upon your shoulders the weight of others' lives what had driven his brother to become as he was?

Suddenly every single life that perished in the attack from Big Blue held weight, suddenly civilians were people again. Had his brother felt this crushing weight of failure with every success as he himself just had? The knowledge that no matter how fast you were, no matter how strong you may be, you simply could not save everyone – no matter how hard you tried?

Is that why he had urged him not to get too attached?

Hugging the small girl back however he was reminded of why heroes existed in the first place. Amidst even the greatest of failures a hero could snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This little girl in his arms at the moment was his victory.

He might not have saved her parents, or even the thousands of people that died in the wake of this most recent of tragedies, but he did save her. She was living testament to his actions on this day.

He could miss a trip to the grocery store for this…

"I'll miss you too Imouto-chan" he said amidst happy tears as he hugged her back

In their careers it was rare to make friends, most people treated them like costumed weirdos rather than heroes after all, but he could honestly say that today he had made a friend in her.

Looking towards Saitama he managed to glance at the look upon his face as he stared sadly at the two before he turned away from the scene. His expression as uninspired as ever.

He had an awesome big brother…

Breaking the hug he looked down at the petite girl in front of him with a sad smile "Well, we better get going! Got places to be, people to save and all that!" he said as cheerfully as he could, his statement causing the girl to nod understandably at that as she looked at him with a heartfelt smile.

"Good luck" she said softly as she clutched the whistle tightly in her hands

"Take care of my little sis for me old man!" he shouted as he waved back at the director

"I'm only thirty-seven!" the director shouted back after him as he and his brother left the room

"No one asked you old man" his little sister happily quipped back causing the director to groan at that and for Naruto to smirk as he heard her from down the hall.

"Well even though I already know your name thanks to the two fools that came with you, don't you think you should introduce yourself?" the man prodded causing the girl to frown at the way he referred to her friends.

"They're not fools, they're heroes" she replied with a glare and as much as the man wanted to say otherwise as the two weren't registered with the Hero Association as professional heroes he could not deny that they're action in bringing this girl to the shelter when they had no need to was in no way any less heroic. So maybe they were heroes, after all heroes didn't need to save the world to be labeled as such, small things like this could make a difference and impact people's lives in their own way as well.

Laughing at the girl's declaration he could not help but concede on the matter "Maybe they are!" he laughed causing the girl to grow even more frustrated at that as she thought he was laughing at her.

"Whatever, my name is Aoi Tachibana and it's definitely not a pleasure to meet you" she bit back as she crossed her arms angrily in front of her chest, and just like that the director's smile was gone.

This was fixing to be a _really_ long day…

* * *

-x-

 _With Naruto and Saitama_

The two were currently walking through the shelter in silence as the mass of people in the large domed construct parted before them in fear.

"So the training whistle…" Saitama started as he drummed up some conversation

"It was all I had on hand at the moment," Naruto replied defensively "Plus technically what I said was true, so I didn't lie"

"Never said you did," Saitama replied, slightly surprised at how defensive he was getting "It was just I'm surprised you would give it away like that is all" he explained causing Naruto to look sheepish at he having jumped to conclusions like that.

"Sorry," Naruto apologized "Yeah I just – I don't know. It's just this whole situation reminded me a lot of that time back then…" He said as he trailed off in thought

"You mean with the green haired woman and the unnamed city?" Saitama asked curiously as this was one of the big mysteries surrounding his brother that he had been trying to get to the bottom of for years.

Nodding Naruto continued "She was just like me back then, alone and afraid. Wanting someone – anyone to lend an ear, to offer a hand. It's like the roles have become reversed since then. It makes me wonder if I could bring myself to do such a thing for someone that I thought important." Naruto said as he looked at his open hand curiously before closing it into a fist

"I know what you mean, to destroy an entire city for someone. All the lives lost… that must weigh heavily on her conscience. I'm sure it haunts her to this day." Saitama said wisely in a rare moment of insight

"Through bonds another person's life can become worth more to someone than the lives of others, sometimes even the life of that person themselves. That's why when a tragedy strikes the ones that you worry about, the one's that you cry for, are those closest to you. If you're hundreds of miles away and you hear that thousands of people died in a tragedy just like this one, you don't mourn the calamity, rather you hope. As morbid as it is you hope that everyone else died rather than that one person that you care about. The mother hopes that it was the son of her neighbor that died rather than her own, the husband hopes that it was his friend rather than his wife. Powerful bonds outweigh weaker ones and if you find the person you care about among the dead, only then do you allow yourself to truly mourn." Saitama said sadly

"Whether you know it or not that single life is worth more to you than thousands of others, the one person that you care about outweighs the thousands that you do not. That Naruto is how a good person can become a monster – that is what leads someone like your green haired friend to kill off an entire city for a single person." Saitama explained as pain swam in his usually dull eyes

"But it doesn't make any sense, she didn't know me well enough to craft bonds of such magnitude!" he shouted in confusion "She didn't even know my name" he said sadly as he cast his eyes downwards, only to feel Saitama wrap an arm around his shoulders comfortingly.

"You don't need a lifetime to craft bonds like that Naruto, all you need is a moment" Saitama explained "In just a few hours you have built a lasting bond with that girl that will impact her for the rest of her life. I bet you that even after both of us have turned to dust and that girl is on her deathbed, she will still be clinging onto that whistle you gave her and remembering this very day." Saitama said seriously as he dared not underestimate the mark that Naruto had left upon her today with his actions.

"That's so sad" Naruto said with tears in his eyes

"That's life," Saitama responded with a shrug, "It's part of the path that we set forth to face on the day we both decided to become heroes"

"Yeah" Naruto answered back as he wiped away his tears "I guess we did" he said as he offered Saitama a smile that eventually faded back into a thoughtful expression.

"What about our bond?" Naruto asked curiously

"Our bond?" Saitama repeated only to get a confirmatory nod from Naruto, causing him to give the question a good deal of thought as he knew that this was important to him "Definitely worth a few million lives in my opinion. That green haired girl destroyed a city for you, I would destroy a hundred." He answered decisively, earning an awed yet also frightened look from Naruto at that as he knew that Saitama could very well back up his words and there would be little that could be done to stop him.

"Wow, I never thought bonds were that powerful. I guess that if I was forced to do it I might, I mean I don't think I can see myself trying to go through life without my bro by my side!" Naruto said as he got out of his rut and back into his usual jovial mood.

"Yeah me neither, why I don't think I could survive more than a few weeks without mooching off you" Saitama jokingly replied as he followed along

"Try a few days" Naruto laughed

The two walked out of the smashed in doors of the shelter and were given way by the numerous frightful people outside that were looking at the enormous hole that was cutting through the same skyscraper that had offered them protection from the mysterious being. The hole Saitama himself had created with just one punch. As they walked however Saitama could not help the thoughts that crossed his mind at his most recent conversation with his little brother.

Truth was that even though Naruto saw him as this unshakable pillar of fortitude and valor, a person that would not succumb to his emotions or likely be defeated by a powerful foe, he too had a single glaring weakness. Those powerful bonds that he spoke of, that often empowered others to act was his greatest weakness. His brother, Naruto, was his greatest weakness…

Because for Naruto there was nothing he would not do, he had lied when he had said he would end the lives of millions for his little brother. For the truth was that to him his little brother was worth seven worlds just like this one.

That was to say if the choice ever came to present itself for him to choose…

He would _**destroy**_ seven worlds just like this one if only to allow his brother a chance to live.

Naruto had given him a purpose, had provided him a reason to live when he had none, and then driven him to pursue his lifelong dream of being a hero…

His emotions as dulled as they may be, his hopes as asinine as they now seemed, lived on within his little brother.

He the unstoppable would help guide the hopeful. Such was his purpose, his calling. He was his little brother's hero and that… was more than enough for him.

Maybe one day, maybe he could expand upon that and find something more to live for. Build upon his bonds and become just weak enough through them, where he could finally find happiness…

* * *

-x-

 _City Z Supermarket_

"Hmm" Naruto sounded off thoughtfully as he looked over some crab legs "Hey Saitama?"

"What?" the bald man responded as he looked over from the dairy isle, ignoring a mildly attractive female that walked past him and laughed softly into her hand at his appearance.

"Doesn't this remind you of someone?" Naruto said as he held up the crab legs with a smirk, causing Saitama to look over them with a contemplative frown.

"Old lady Chiyo?" Saitama offered, getting a laugh from Naruto at the dig at their former crooked landlady.

"No, nice one though!" Naruto laughed "Think about it though, doesn't this remind you of our old buddy crab head" Naruto reminded him causing Saitama to strike his fist into the palm of his hand in realization.

"Oh I remember him, it was on the day I found you!" Saitama said aloud in remembrance

"Ah correction, it was I who found you" Naruto corrected

"Are you sure about that? Wait, was this before or after crab face?" Saitama asked confusedly

"I – you know what, I honestly can't remember" Naruto said with a shrug as he came up blank on that particular question.

"You remember the kid though right, the one with the cleft chin?" Saitama said while withholding the tiniest of smirks.

"Oh, you mean that kid!" Naruto laughed "The one whose chin looked like a _large_ pair of-" Naruto said with accompanying exaggerated hand motions before he was cut off.

"Hey would you two ladies take your conversation elsewhere, some of us want to get our shopping done _before_ it gets dark!" a creaky old voice shouted at the two of them causing them to stop mid-conversation at that.

"Hey, who are you calling a lady you – you old lady!" Naruto lamely countered as he turned around and came face to face with some old crone, she instantly making him grimace in disgust at how close she was. I mean how had he not noticed her? She was practically breathing down his neck!

"Nice one, that's telling her Naruto" Saitama mocked at his lame response

"Oh, shut up you" Naruto bit back

"You two that's who, now could you move out of the way!? I want to have dinner cooked before it's time for breakfast and I don't fancy staying here all night hearing you two gossiping about your glory days!" the old crone croaked at the two, causing Naruto to take an offended expression at that.

"Oh yeah, well your face is so ugly that-!" Naruto started before he heard Saitama cough into his hand and noticed that he was causing a scene. He spotting a young mother dragging her five year old son slowly away from him as said child pointed while laughing at the weirdly dressed man.

However not one to be discouraged by what others thought he tried again, "Your mom is so old that-!" he started again only to stop once more at the sound of his brother face-palming as he shook his head in shame while numerous people chuckled at his antics. The old lady only raising her eyebrow curiously at his currently blushing face and weird hand gestures.

Here he was, a young adult dressed in what looked like a children's superhero costume trying to start fights with little old ladies in the supermarket.

What the crap?

"My apologies, I'm sorry for my lack of consideration. Please go right ahead Ma'am," he respectfully replied as he swallowed what little was left of his pride while standing aside and bowing politely to the old woman.

Blinking in slight surprise at his sudden change in demeanor the old lady let out a surprised thanks at that before grabbing what she wanted and walking hurriedly away from the two costumed weirdos.

'Hope you choke on those crab legs you old _hag_!' Naruto hissed in his mind at her retreating figure

"Are you cursing that old lady out in your thoughts?" Saitama asked as he walked by him with the basket causing Naruto to let a surprised sound out at that

"How did you know!?" Naruto demanded as he followed after his brother with the crab legs in hand

"You make a face reminiscent of a baby T-rex choking on a meatball when you are giving someone the evil-eye" Saitama replied causing Naruto to actually stop to consider what such a thing would look like

"Hey you two" they heard someone call out from one of the aisles causing them to turn and spot two smiling females making their way towards the two of them.

The pair looked to be in their early twenties and were quite attractive, one having fair skin and shoulder length blonde hair that fell down to her shoulders with two hair antenna's framing her face. While the other had lightly tanned skin with her onyx black hair set into a professional looking bun, her fringe covering her left eye from view as she smiled at the two politely. They both had soft features currently settled into a small smile as they gazed upon the funnily dressed pair. Overall they were quite the curvaceous beauties.

Although the black haired one seemed quite preoccupied with looking anywhere but at Saitama for some reason. All things considered they both looked like office workers that had recently gotten off work and just gotten into their casual clothes. In other words they were their exact opposites.

Raising an eyebrow Naruto pointed at himself questioningly with Saitama mirroring the action shortly after getting a gentle laugh from the blond haired beauty.

"Yes, you two" she said with a good-natured eye roll at the two

"Bro is she talking to us?" Naruto whispered as the two walked over

"I don't know, I think so" Saitama replied with a small frown as this unexpected situation

"What should we do?" Naruto asked not used to something like this happening

"Just act normal, they probably just think we're employees or something and need help" Saitama answered showing he was as clueless as to what was going on as Naruto.

"Normal, right" Naruto muttered cynically as he looked down at his outfit. Yep, about as normal as a heart attack.

"Can we help you ladies with something?" Naruto quickly offered with a disarming smile as he bought into Saitama's logic of the girls thinking they were store employees, after all the employees _did_ wear yellow aprons.

The blonde haired girl raised an eyebrow at how polite he was being but trekked on "Well yes, you see me and my friend here couldn't help but seeing your little _episode_ earlier and we thought-"

"Wait, what did you see?" Naruto cut in defensively

"Better yet what did you hear?" Saitama asked, as he thought that would be the more controversial of the two things.

"I deny everything!" Naruto exclaimed as he started backing away only for the two girls two break into giggles at the outburst, confusing the two caped crusaders.

"Well frankly we thought you were hilarious, we haven't laughed like this in a long time" she said amidst her chuckles "We would like to get to know you two better, as friends and possibly something more later on. No commitment at this point, just you know, it seems like it would be fun to hang out with you guy's is all." She explained to the two stunned males as she blushed cutely while trying to explain things properly without sounding weird.

"What she's trying to say is that we think your honest and eccentric personalities are refreshing and we would like to get to know you a bit better." The dark haired girl explained as she saw her friend stumbling over her words at the finishing stretch.

They expected many things from the pair, what followed was not one of them.

"Don't look Saitama! It's a mirage! They're just figments of our imagination!" Naruto cried out dramatically as he covered Saitama's eyes with his arm "There's no way cute girls like them would ever walk up to us in public like this!"

"It must have been the natto, its gone _bad"_ Saitama suggested

"What really, since when?" Naruto asked as he shielded himself from the view of the "mirage" with the crab legs as the pair walked, or more like stumbled, away.

* * *

-x-

 _With the two girls…_

"Aww, they're shy!" the blonde haired girl cooed at the sight of them leaving together

"They just totally blew us off and chalked us up to a mirage caused by food poisoning" the dark haired girl commented more than a bit miffed at that whilst looking disbelievingly at her friend.

"Ah, but they also called us cute! That and they only thought we were a mirage because they thought we were attractive and were possibly a tad too forward with them." She countered causing her friend to come up short for a moment, before picking up on what she had last said.

"A tad too forward you say? All that was left was for you to bend over for that blondie of yours, he's like what, 17 or something? Barely legal - why he's so young he could have been your little sister's academy classmate." The black haired girl teased prompting the blonde haired girl to blush at the insinuation

"Don't you judge my taste in men, I saw you looking at that baldie ever since he came into the store. Those side-glances of yours don't fool me, why you were so infatuated with him I wouldn't have been surprised to find you sucking on his big bald-!" she shouted before a hand clamped over her mouth to silence her.

"Shh, there are children here!" the dark haired girl cried out with a blush as she covered her friends mouth with her hands while blushing fiercely at that.

"Head, I was going to said head!" the blonde girl replied as she ripped the other females hand from over her mouth "Sheesh, perv much?"

"You know my tastes are, uh, unique – anyways, I just can't believe you would do something like that! When you told me we were taking the weekend off together, I didn't think you meant this!" The black haired beauty said embarrassedly to her friend

"Oh come on, it's about time I got you out of that damned office! Working for the Hero Association is fun and all, but those emergency shelters can get pretty stuffy you know? That's one of the reason's I'm so insistent on getting us moved over to central command at A city, that and the fact that Z city is getting a lot more dangerous recently." The blonde haired girl said thoughtfully

"What really?" the black haired beauty asked curiously as she had not heard about this

"Yeah, you didn't you hear? The abandoned sector expanded a quarter mile simply in the last three days! I mean there's only been like six mysterious beings in the last two weeks. Wow, I guess you desk jockeys really are out of the loop, and here I was thinking that Anton over in security was simply full of hot air." The blonde haired chick said with a teasing smirk at the end as she crossed her arms in front of her chest while sending her friend a pitying look.

"Hey it's not that bad, the pay's really good and the benefits are nothing to scoff at either." The black haired beauty defended "It's not like everyone has to be on the ground floor actually keeping people happy and calm in order to keep them safe, proper maintenance of vital systems and monitoring equipment is important as well. Safety is our number one priority after all." She said with a small smile

"Ugh, I didn't ask for a refresher in company policy or to remember our corny motto either. The people at central in A-city actually get to do stuff! Work together with heroes and relay the necessary information to actually get the job done! While we have to sit on our hands while waiting for an all clear. I'm fine with leaving the hero work to actual heroes, but I don't know, I just wish that I could actually _feel_ like I'm making a difference you know." she said as she visibly deflated at the thought

"Sometimes I would like to feel like I held some more significance than simply another pretty face. You might like your job Misaki, but I can honestly say that I hate mine. Almost anyone could do my job, it's simply stand here, walk gracefully over there, point out how secure shelters are as you list useless facts about them. The only thing that actually counts as mildly helpful is the part where I try to keep people as orderly as possible as they file in or out of the shelters." She said towards the newly identified Misaki, who could only looked wide-eyed at the fact her friend looked like she was on the verge of having a breakdown. Maybe this girl's trip was more for her friend's benefit than for hers all things considered.

"I got degrees in telecommunications, mechanical engineering, even god damned aeronautics all with the singular belief that I would be making a difference! Be it in the military, Special Defense Force, or most recently the Hero Association. All I wanted to make a difference, yet where am I now? I'm at a dead end job where the only real qualification is looking pretty!" she shouted in frustration whilst looking to be on the verge of tears.

Misaki having taken the opportunity to take her towards one of the guest benches in the store, decided to try to help her friend work through the sudden bout of depression that had struck her. Now she wasn't someone that could say that she was happy with her job either, but unlike her friend she _was_ satisfied with it. It was a living, but she could easily see where her friend was coming from, after all she was the one that had stayed up with her all night while she was studying for those tests of hers. She had seen just how much shit her friend had gone through to get each of those degrees through that insane military accelerated program. To limit her to a job based on mere appearance was not only an insult to the effort she put in, but an insult to her as well.

"Hey it's alright, these things happen." Misaki comforted as she rubbed the girl's back soothingly "It's a lengthy process to get into A City, we've already signed up for the waiting list. It's only a matter of time until we get transferred, you'll see."

"No, it's not alright! We both worked our butts off on our technical assessment tests, we should be at the top of that damn waiting list!" She angrily cried out, she finally getting fed up with all this complacent bullshit "But no, we see assholes like Miyazaki being sent there when he can't even tell apart a damn pressure relief valve from his own dick!" she shouted as she kicked the shelf in front of her angrily before deflating in apparent defeat.

Looking at her clenched hands on her lap for a moment, she found her thoughts slowly drifted towards the intrepid duo that they had met mere moment's ago and she could not help but feel envious of them. To do what they wanted without concerning themselves about what others may think or mere appearances, it was like they had broken free of this wretched system she found herself trapped in. Maybe that was why she had wanted to talk to them, to spend some time with them.

Just looking at the two go through their everyday lives seemed to fill her in ways she simply could not explain. Their world just seemed so simple. They said what they wanted, acted how they wished, and their purpose was so clear that even she could make it out from but a glance.

They were heroes… at least as far as they were concerned.

Looking at the two of them, it just made her feel…happy.

Slowly a small smile found its way upon her face, as she found her eyes drifting off towards the pair to see them debating over which snacks to purchase. However she quickly noticed the difference between what they did and how that scenario would usually play out. Instead of arguing over which one was better the brother's simply grabbed both and threw them into the basket. Each taking what they wanted for themselves before moving on to look for something else.

Is that what she was doing wrong, is that what she lacked? Decisiveness? Could it really be that simple?

Feeling herself perk up at the revelation, she could not help but gaze at the two in a new light. As she looked at the blonde haired boy from afar she could feel it, he had the fortitude to see his dreams through. The sheer determination to achieve whatever he might decide upon – the bald one possessed it as well. Now, maybe she was overthinking things and these two were simply costumed weirdos that had dropped in from some anime convention or something, but there was something undeniably special about the two and even a blind person could realize that.

"Well you seem a lot better all of a sudden - what happened, did you come up with some crazy ploy to solve all our problems?" Misaki asked jokingly as she noticed her friend's sudden change in demeanor all of a sudden.

"In a way" the blonde haired girl answered mysteriously with a small grin

"If you want we can go to that deli place you like now, you know the one with those dainty sandwiches you like so much" Misaki offered her friend, only to get a shake in the negative from her as the grin grew even wider at that.

"Maybe later, but right now I think I know _exactly_ what I want," she declared as her eyes settled determinedly on the blonde haired teen from before as a predatory smirk settled upon her face. This time – this time she would get what she wanted.

-x-

*Beep*

"Okay, why are you following us?" Naruto demanded from the two females that were trailing after the two of them.

"Oh, so you acknowledge that we are not mirages" the blonde haired girl teased

*Beep*

"Yes, now why exactly are you following us?" Naruto conceded, not noticing Saitama shake his head at the question.

"Well first of all we already said that we were interested in you two and you have yet to give us a proper response concerning that and secondly…"

*Beep*

"There's only one register open" the blonde haired beauty deadpanned as she pointed to the register they were all waiting in line for, where currently the old lady from before was getting her produce scanned.

"Naruto can you move over a bit, I'm so close I can smell her ugly" Saitama whispered urgently into Naruto's ear as he referred to the old crone in front of them which he was currently almost pressed up against. Naruto having backed up into him and squeezed the line together after the two obviously delusional chicks from before showed up again.

"I don't think that's possible bro," Naruto said as he raised an eyebrow at the two busty girls currently behind them "Okay I don't know what has gotten the two of you so interested in us in the first place, but me and my brother are not interested in pursuing a relationship at the moment." Naruto explained, deciding to nip this at the bud as quickly as possible.

Now as corny as it may sound the problem wasn't the two girls, no in Naruto's eyes they were the hottest most deluded chicks to have ever shown an interest in them. Especially considering they were wearing their superhero costumes at the moment. No, the problem lay with the two of them.

I mean what would they have to offer to a relationship? They were two guys living together in a shared run-down apartment that pretended to be superheroes for fun. The only reason they got by was the odd jobs he did every once in a while and anonymous donations from grateful citizens.

They had absolutely no prospects to speak of and their sole merits lied with their otherworldly strength and skills. Frankly he wasn't someone that would mooch of two pretty, no doubt hard working girls like that, he was better than that.

"We're not?" Saitama asked curiously, this being the first he had heard of this, that is before getting a look from Naruto which instantly reminded him that Naruto was usually the one that paid their bills "I mean, we're not!" Saitama declared before quickly grabbing a magazine from the nearby rack and acting as uninterested as possible, not noticing that he was holding it upside down in his haste.

"Come on you can't say you aren't a _little_ interested" Misaki said as she pulled down on Saitama's magazine with her finger and gave him a charming smile, she making sure to give him ample view of her cleavage in the process.

However rather than flustering Saitama as she expected, he only frowned slightly at her "I have pepper spray" he announced as he reached threateningly towards his utility belt.

Quickly backing off Misaki raised her hands in mock surrender as she backed away and made herself look as small as possible after her failed seduction attempt.

"Okay I think things may have gotten off on the wrong foot here, how about we start over" the blonde haired girl announced as she tried to disarm the currently tense situation, holding out her hand towards Naruto she introduced herself "My name is Kasumi, I'm twenty-three years old and work a fairly unfulfilling job at the Z-City emergency shelter. I like gardening, cats, and just about anything that can get me to laugh. I dislike posers and self-entitled losers that get everything handed to them because of who they are related to rather than hard work. My dream is to move to A-City and work at central command where stuff actually gets done!" she said with a large happy smile as she looked at a surprised Naruto at her thorough intro.

"Uh, right, it's a pleasure to meet you Kasumi" Naruto replied awkwardly as he shook her hand, he wanting to refer to her by her last name but not being provided one.

"Well?" Kasumi asked as she waited expectantly

"Well, what?" Naruto asked in confusion

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself as well?" she asked with a small frown as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked at him expectantly

"Bro, what do I do?" Naruto quietly asked Saitama as he had never been presented with a situation like this before.

"I don't know," Saitama lowering the magazine he was using to hide himself behind from the two crazy broads whispered back "Just go with it, worse comes to worse we'll lose them while they pay for their items" he suggested, getting a nod from Naruto at that

"I suppose it's only fitting, my name is Naruto, no last name. I too like gardening, but I also like reading manga and western comics for inspiration in my hobbies. Asides from that I also like finding ways to save money, be it a sale or otherwise. Hmm… I guess if I hated something its blatant liars and naked villains. My dream is to find a certain someone and continue to do what I love to do!" he said decisively with a large grin at the end causing both girl's to smile at his enthusiasm.

Taking over Misaki thought it prudent to introduce herself as well "My name is Misaki, I like my friend Kasumi here am twenty-three and I also work at the Z-City emergency shelter in the logistics department. I like …" she started before she trailed off with a small blush as face remained near expressionless, "Anyways I enjoy reading romance novels and dislike a great deal many things that require much more effort than they are often worth, as such I like things that are worthwhile. The same can be said for relationships. My dream is to support Misaki with her own and one day settle down to have a family." She said with a small smile at the end, causing Naruto to look quite impressed at her introduction as well before all of them turned to Saitama.

"What?" he asked curiously as he noticed them all looking at him, the old lady having almost finished getting her items rang up and he having settled himself comfortably to read a fishing magazine as he waited.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself?" Kasumi asked as Misaki looked on expectantly at him

Looking at Naruto for a moment and getting a shrug from him, he decided to comply "My name's Saitama and I'm an average guy who's a hero for fun." He replied simply before going back to his magazine, leaving the three sweatdropping at that.

"Can't you do a bit better than that?" Kasumi pressed causing Saitama to look at her thoughtfully at that

"I'm also bald," he offered "All my hair fell out, see?" he said as he showed them his head casing Naruto to face palm and Misaki to blush for some reason.

"Sir, you're next" the cashier called out as she noticed the line wasn't moving

"Finally," Saitama said as he put the magazine back on the rack and set about placing their groceries on the conveyor belt "Naruto, the coupons" he reminded him

"Oh right, anyways it was nice talking to you two" Naruto said dismissively as he started towards the register while riffling through a small pouch and pulling out coupons.

"Wait! Do you think we could meet up again sometime or something – I mean as friends?" the blonde haired girl pleaded as she saw her opportunity slipping by

"Oh, yeah sure no prob" Naruto replied without really paying attention as he started handing the cashier coupons for the corresponding items as they were scanned.

"Great!" she cheered as she handed Naruto one of the company business cards with her contact info on it.

"Thanks," Naruto replied distractedly as he took it, this being just as he noticed the old lady from before struggling with her groceries. "Hey you, do you need any help?" he called out causing the girls to notice the old lady as well.

"Your total comes up to 1860 ¥" the cashier said as Saitama dug through his wallet for exact change only for the ground to shake and for the coins to move out of reach inside the pouch frustrating him.

Suddenly another tremor rocked the establishment causing the two girls from earlier to cry out as they grabbed onto a nearby shelf in order to prevent themselves from falling over. At this point numerous people broke into panic as they all tried to rush out of the store out of fear. Naruto's eyes however were currently settled on the old lady from earlier as he saw her stumble and fall onto her knees as her groceries spilled all over the floor.

"Hey are you okay!?" Naruto shouted worriedly as he made his way over to her before his eyes suddenly widened at he felt something approaching "Get out of the way!" he shouted as he pushed past a random fleeing civilian in order to reach her in time.

"Here, I have exact change" Saitama said as he went to pay the cashier only to find the woman lying on the floor while looking fearfully towards the far end of the store.

Following the woman's line of sight he turned just in time to see Naruto roughly grab the old lady from before by her coat and throw her out of the way. Naruto himself merely being able to look up for just a split second just before he was crushed along with the entire far end of the store.

Saitama could hear the two girls from before screaming in horror at the sight while the coins in his hand clinked lifelessly across the tiled floor as they fell.

"Well… that was unfortunate"

* * *

-x-

 **Chapter Note's and Bio:**

Now before anyone starts crying out OC, I will inform you that Misaki and Kasumi are in fact NOT original characters of mine and neither is Aoi. Aoi appears in the actual series but only as unnamed civilian girl for the intro.

 _ **Misaki**_ is actually **Z Branch Committee Girl** , which appeared in episode 9. However in this she works logistics at one of the Emergency Shelters at the moment, this is out of personal choice in order to stay close to her friend. You can look her up in the wiki if you wish, the only things I changed was that like Aoi I named her and that I gave her tanned skin and black hair, rather than her usual fair skin and brown hair. The only reason she is acting unprofessional at the moment is because she's off the clock, she's a totally different person at work. Her personality is formal, intelligent, and calculative. However she is also fiercely protective of Kasumi and even though the two are the same age sees her as a little sister of sorts.

 _ **Kasumi**_ is actually **Shelter Nr.7 Girl** , which I do believe only appeared during a flashback in the manga. In this however she was only recruited into the Hero Association recently and decided to focus on her studies a bit longer in hopes of making a bigger impact. She is also in the wiki as well, though she only has a stub. Her appearance is the same, she only has her hair down due to not being on the clock and is currently wearing casual attire like Misaki. She works on the ground floor of one of the emergency shelters in Z city in the same position that she had canonically. Her personality is bubbly, intelligent, and insecure. She tries to look out for Kasumi, but it usually ends up the other way around.

They at this point are only acquaintances with Naruto and Saitama, there is no romance there yet, only an interest. Whether they decide to pursue the pair romantically remains to be seen, especially since they have stricken out every time they even tried this chapter. They will play a larger role in the story once Naruto and Saitama actually become professional heroes as they will be their people "on the inside", so to speak.


	3. God's Amongst Us

I'm back again on this site after so long, had my hands full last semester with classes and had to stop updating. Also got a new games console in the shape of an xbox one, have only a handful of games for it (most free) of which I mostly play warframe due to lack of friends on xbox – it's still a fun pastime though. Since its summer now and I have already selected my classes for Fall and consulted with my counselor I should have some free time on my hand's again. That and my father said I should finish what I started and not leave you all hanging. My sister's insistence on getting me to watch anime again may have helped as well.

The reason I made a distinction between western comics and manga last chapter is because I know that the majority of my audience does differentiate the two. Honestly it doesn't hurt to make the distinction and it clearly conveys what I mean even if not an accurate cultural representation. That and One-Punch Man is set in a different universe, for all accounts there might not even be a 'west'. I was merely me, the author, pointing out a distinction between two types of comics.

Yes, I know that Saitama is not the best at displaying his emotions. I actually _did_ watch the anime, read the manga, and followed the original web-comic to a degree. However, there is one thing that makes this different from cannon – Naruto.

* * *

Chapter III

* * *

 **God's Amongst Us**

 **~x~**

"Well… that was unfortunate" Saitama remarked passively before whatever had crushed his brother continued on its way, it having crushed half the supermarket in an instant in its wake.

The girls behind him could only look on in disbelief as he walked towards the missing portion of the store. Light filtering in from outside as he looked down towards the food that had been spilled upon the ground piteously.

"Pity" he commented before he looked forwards to see a vast ruin before him, looking towards the left he could make out a colossal humanoid looking figure looming in the distance. With every step it took the ground quaked beneath its awesome power, its powerful frame towering over even the largest of man-made constructs. Its gait was slow, but clearly heading in a northwesterly direction – straight towards City B.

The figure from what he could make out was fairly humanoid in appearance, it having bronzed skin and a muscular figure. However that was where the similarities between humans and it ended. It had a pronounced skull that seem to mold itself around the upper portion of its head, it acting as a head covering of sorts. Its body appeared to be comprised of pure muscle, while its collarbone seemed to protrude from its skin with the appearance of elongated tubular bulges – they being a reddish marron in coloration and broken up into links.

However to Saitama one single thing stood out above all else as he gazed upon the colossal beast…

"He's naked" Saitama commented as he pointed out the obvious, he nodding to himself in apparent understanding. He was starting to notice a recurring pattern here, a good deal of monsters that they faced lacked a good deal of clothing or had none at all.

So either the mysterious beings were more heavily inclined to not wearing clothes – or it was the lack of clothes itself that made them more prone to becoming monsters in the first place! Wait, no that didn't make sense. He was probably correct with his initial assumption as to the matter – it was just in style or something.

"Whatever, this means I win the bet Naruto. Three naked monsters in one week – that's three points on the hero chart for me." Saitama said as he pulled out a pocket book filled with numerous tally marks, which had both their names on it and marked the point increase on his column.

"What are you doing!? We need to get to the shelters before that thing makes another pass, we can mourn your brother later!" the dark haired girl from earlier cried out as she grabbed him by the arm and attempted to pull him towards the door, only to yield no ground as he didn't even give an inch.

Turning towards her Saitama saw her with a panicked look across her face, while he could make out the other female – Kaguya or something – on her knees with tears in her eyes. She looking disbelievingly where Naruto had been mere moments prior before he was apparently stepped on.

'Ah, I need to remember to tease him about that' he thought to himself, while noticing the cashier from earlier helping the old-lady out of the store. They likely heading in the direction of the shelters.

"What's the point Misaki? I know the shelter's in and out, there's no way they can hold back a thousand ton behemoth." Kasumi said in a broken tone as she looked on at the massive figure in the distance with a defeated look.

At that Misaki seemed to take a downcast expression as the reality of the situation descended upon her. Kasumi was right of course, for a mysterious being that large all that it would require was for it to step on the shelter and the roof would inevitably cave in – killing everyone inside in the process.

Suddenly an eerie calm settled over Misaki, before she looked towards the currently unexpressive looking Saitama thoughtfully. She disregarding his dulled expression as nothing more than the shock of losing his brother.

"Well what do you want to do? We can't possibly make it to our shelter in time, but if you want we can head to the local one for earthquakes and other natural disasters. We might stand a better chance there." She offered, not truly believing that it would make a difference before what she had identified as a Dragon level mysterious being. She having observed it demolish entire sectors of the city with nothing more than sheer air pressure from its attacks and kill thousands but with a single swing of its massive fists.

The only reason she offered it truly being in order to raise the man's spirits some after his brother's death. However to her surprise he shook his head in the negative, "Nah, I don't feel like it" he replied dismissively, taking her aback at the response as her eyes widened slightly before they softened just as quickly.

'He must have decided that life isn't worth living without his brother…' she thought sadly as she looked upon him only to see him staring towards the raging behemoth in the distance with a blank expression.

"I understand," she said before turning towards Kasumi while solidifying her resolve, "Kasumi, what do you want to do? We can still make it to the shelter if we leave now," Masaki offered only to get a shake in the negative from her friend, she knowing it would be pointless to do so.

It was either wait for a powerful enough hero to arrive to save the day – or die. In fact it was likely that by the time that a powerful enough hero arrived there would be barely anything left to save of B and Z City.

Having expected the reply she turned back to Saitama with a determined expression, "Very well – I hope you don't mind some company big guy, because me and my friend here have decided to stay and watch the fireworks with you." She offering him a sad smile as she patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, prompting him to merely raise an eyebrow at the action as he pulled out a pair of binoculars. He not realizing that they were basically saying that they had decided to die along with him as they acknowledged the futility of running.

"Do what you want I guess, it's not like it matters really" he said as he looked through the binoculars towards the giant in the distance, a small smirk coming upon his face at the sight that greeted him.

'Definitely have to tease him about this' he thought to himself, he definitely wasn't going to let his brother live this down for a _looong_ time.

He not knowing that both girls had taken his response as him having accepted death.

"Hey?" Misaki called out to him softly, grabbing his attention but not warranting him to glance at her – he merely humming in acknowledgement in response.

"Do you think – you know, do you think you could kiss me before we die?" she asked with a straight face as she decided not to skirt around the issue, a blush ghosting across her features as she looked at him hopefully.

That definitely grabbed his attention – casting a confused glace her way he voiced his confusion at her proposition, "Huh, what are you talking about?" he asked as he lowered his binoculars

"I mean I've never kissed a man before and I thought it would be a nice memory to have if we're going to die. I mean I know we just met and all, but you seem trustworthy enough and…" she said as she trailed off with a blush, not having expected such a question in the first place.

Hell she hadn't expected any of this, everything was just happening so fast that she could barely process all of it. One moment she and her friend were talking to these two odd guys and then it all went to hell in an instant. Now she was likely going die along with her friend – neither of them having achieved any of their dreams or done any of the things they had set out to do.

Well if she was going to die she wanted it to at the very least be on her own terms, life owed her that much for screwing her over.

"Are you stupid?" he asked bluntly as he looked at her oddly, causing her to be taken aback at that question as she blushed even darker in indignation at his response.

"Look it's not like I would do this normally! I'm not some sort of floozy or _easy_ , it's just that these are unique circumstances and as such I am giving you a once in a life-time opportunity! One that will not be given again – honestly if had a choice I would rather not." She declared with a glare as she took offence to his apparent disinterest – I mean was she really that bad? Wait no, it was just that his brother just died in front of him and he's still recovering from that – of course he's still hurting, how insensitive of her. However, it wasn't like they weren't going to be joining him soon anyways so they might as well. Right?

"Then don't" he replied drily causing her frustration to reach new heights – I mean what was up with this guy!? If anything he should be grateful at such a proposition! That does it, she would definitely convince him to kiss her before they died, that would be her last goal – the one thing that would make up for all those unfulfilled dreams that she let pass by. She would get what she wants!

"You should be grateful that I'm offering this in the first place, numerous guys would _die_ to be in your position right now!" she exclaimed whilst she pointed at him – before an explosion sounded off in the distance as an oil refinery went up in smoke. This inevitably causing Saitama to raise an eyebrow at her as she blushed cutely at her lack of forethought on her statement. "Let me rephrase that," she said with an awkward smile just as the adjoining pipelines went up in flames in the distance, the resulting explosion causing the entire building to tremble in its wake.

"I'll pass" he said dismissively as he turned back towards the giant in the distance only to notice something rapidly approaching them in the air.

"Come on are you seriously saying here that you would rather _die_ than kiss me?" she asked, her anger having subsided at this point only to be replaced by sadness as how casually he was dismissing her.

"Well honestly you're the only one here talking about dying" he pointed out causing her to look at him cynically at that

"Oh, come on. It's not like a hero is just going to -" suddenly she stopped mid-sentence as a shadow descended over them, her jaw going slack as she gazed up only to see an entire skyscraper about fall on top of them.

It was huge, likely coming from the commercial sector of B City, it apparently having been launched this way by one of the giant's shockwaves. Stretching a good quarter mile and being as thick as the entire building they habituated it was clear that they were already dead. Even if the impact didn't kill them then the rubble that they would be buried under certainly would, all she and her friend could hope was that it would be a quick and painless death rather than them suffocating under all the debris.

However, the thing that pervaded her thoughts the most was that she had not gotten that kiss that she had wanted before she died, and that most of all evoked regret in her. She had not noticed when Kasumi had made her way over to her, but before she knew it she was pulled into a sideways hug that she returned as they both gazed fearfully towards the massive skyscraper above them.

"I better get one point each for saving the two of you" Saitama remarked dryly, catching their attention as they looked towards him only to see him lift his hand upwards in a chopping motion as he looked towards the skyscraper.

" **Normal Chop"** he said unenthusiastically as he brought his hand down causing the world of the two girls behind him to shatter in an instant.

At first it seemed as if everything stopped for an instant before their sight suddenly split in two for a moment and the landscape before them was suddenly cut apart. The entire skyscraper being sliced in half along with the terrain behind it without him having so much as touched it – in an instant the sky had parted and the land been cleaved in two by a mere motion of his hand.

As the two pieces of the sky scraper crashed on either side of the supermarket the two girls could not help but marvel at the sight before them – it boggled the imagination.

The resulting clean cut trench before them seemed to stretch miles into the distance as it tore through both B and Z City. Said trench cutting so deep into the earth that it seemed bottomless – it being without a doubt the largest man-made crevice on the planet.

The two girls were now openly looking towards Saitama with slack jaws, what he had just done was near biblical in proportion and if his dull expression was anything to go by seemingly effortless for him. Parting the land in two for miles on end with little to no effort was effortless to him…

Then there was the fact that he himself had also called his attack _normal_ , which insinuated that he had barely been trying when he performed it. The mere thought scared the two on some deep level – if what he had just done was to him the equivalent of a normal human performing a chopping motion with their hand…

They worked closely with the Hero Association so they knew… there was no human on this earth that was capable of as much destructive power as the being before them potentially wielded. For as they gazed upon his momentous feat they could not identify a human as wielding such power. No… it was as if they were gazing upon an earth bound deity – as if God resided within his very body.

A veritable living god…

"Seriously that idiot leaving me to look after you two, if he denies my point claim I'm going to hide his Tokyo Nya Nya collection as punishment" Saitama declared, a tad bit miffed at the fact he wasn't over there fighting the naked giant himself, however it was mildly understandable as he was holding the groceries with his other hand at the moment.

Turning back towards him the two girls caught their breath at the sight of him – he looked totally ridiculous. However, considering he had singlehandedly redefined the term godlike and displayed power the likes of which the world had never seen they saw him from an entirely new perspective.

Looking upon his back they seemingly noticed him again for the first time; the sunlight reflecting off his bald head and his cape fluttering behind him – they gazed at him anew.

From his powerful frame and broad shoulders, his physique while seemingly unimpressive upon a meager glance they knew was capable of things they doubted they could even comprehend. He being a being that wielded power on a scale unprecedented. However as he turned around revealing his bored and dull face all thoughts of awe died instantly, being replaced by mere incredulity.

This guy did all that?

"What the fuck was that!?" Kasumi demanded in shock as she gestured towards the path of destruction Saitama had carved upon the earth, however as he turned to regard her she could not help the whimper of fear that left her lips as his dull uninterested gaze descended upon her. She hiding fearfully behind her friend as her sudden bout of bravado and disbelief were instantly curtailed by a much more powerful emotion…

 _ **Fear**_

"That was a skyscraper" he replied with a frown as he looked at the two in confusion, after all he thought they had noticed it – it wasn't exactly small after all.

"Not that, she's talking about that thing you just did with your hand" said a suddenly nervous Misaki as she recalled how disrespectful and demanding she had been to the man before them so far.

"Oh that, that was a normal chop – you know kinda like the one's people do at the beginning of matches where they call out _"hajime!"_ and stuff," He explained before trailing off in thought, "I think me and Naruto saw it on TV recently during a martial arts tournament." He commented causing both girls to look on in disbelief at him at how he had based such a godly attack from something so stupid.

"B-but how did you do that?" Misaki asked disbelievingly, causing him to take on a look of apparent understanding at that.

"Oh, so you want me to show you how to do it – well that's fine I suppose." He said with a shrug, "Well first what you do is raise your hand like this," he explained as he lifted his hand just as he had before causing the two of them to go wide-eyed as they were directly in front of him.

'Oh my god, he's going to kill us in order to demonstrate an example' Misaki thought in horror at the thought of having survived all that only to be killed by something as stupid as a demonstration.

"W-wait!" Misaki cried out as she held her hand out in a stop gesture towards him only for it to fall on deaf ears.

"And then you just bring your hand down like this." He finished as he brought his hand down like a guillotine before the two, causing both of them to cry out in fear as they shielded their faces away in fright. Their cute little cries of fear echoing throughout the empty supermarket as they fearfully awaited death… only for it never to arrive.

"See just like that" Saitama said only to reveal his hand extended out before him as he finished carrying out his chopping motion.

Daring a peek the two girls noticed that nothing had happened this time; no grand ravine, no parted skies, and no otherworldly power. It was just a normal chop.

"W-what happened?" Kasumi asked confusedly

"I don't know," Misaki replied in confusion as she regarded Saitama before her, something about all this was definitely off, "Hey, how come you didn't cut everything in two again?" she asked Saitama

"Yeah, you did the same exact thing but this time nothing happened – why is that?" Kasumi asked

"Well that was just a demonstration, but if you want me to actually use it as an actual attack…" he said as he lifted up his hand in the air while taking the care of pointing it away from the girls, **"Normal-"**

"No!" Misaki exclaimed as she quickly latched onto his arm in order to stop him, causing him to look at her oddly, "I mean no, it's fine – really. Thank you for the demonstration, it was great." She said with a small smile as he slowly lowered his arm again by his side.

"Y-yeah, and thanks for saving us and all that – wait, if you could do stuff like this then why didn't you save your brother, or better yet beat that giant over there in the first place!" Kasumi declared heatedly, as she was reminded of what happened to the blond haired cutie that she had seen crushed before her very eyes.

"Oh that, well I'm holding the groceries and as such I have to take care of them. I mean it's a big responsibility and I can't really fight with just one hand." He said as he lifted the grocery bag he was holding onto causing both girls to sweatdrop at that as they thought the exact same thing.

'You probably totally can, hell you'd win.'

"As for my brother, he's taking care of it" Saitama remarked passively just as a loud explosion sounded off in the distance

"Taking care of it – you mean he's alive!?" Kasumi shouted in shock as hope blossomed forth in her chest

"Of course he's alive, see for yourself" Saitama said as he threw the binoculars towards Kasumi who fumbled with them for a second before grabbing hold of them, she looking at him in shock for a moment before quickly looking through the binoculars towards the wayward giant.

"Um, Saitama-san-"

"Just Saitama is fine" he cut in

"R-right Saitama, you know I could hold those groceries for you – I mean if you want" she offered with a cute blush, only to be met by a lack of reaction from him as he went silent.

"…"

"S-Saitama?"

"Fuuuuuuuuucccccccckkkkkk!" he shouted to the heavens as he found out that he had been sidelined for almost the entire fight for nothing.

Misaki only being able to look on startled at the man's outburst

"I'll be back in a second, don't go anywhere, and be careful with the eggs got it!" he shouted out in a hurry before he jumped down towards the ruins below, the ground cracking below him as he landed.

Crouching down for a moment the two girls observed as his body tensed for a second as he looked towards the giant in the distance before the entire ground exploded under him as he blasted forwards from his current location towards his target.

The ground from where he had spring boarded from caving in as the surrounding landscape shook and cracked as gale force winds temporarily assaulted the two.

"Holy shit!" Kasumi cried out as she shielded her face while feeling the earth shift below her, she fearing that the entire supermarket might just fall into the ruins below only for said fears to not come to fruition, "Who the hell are these guys!?" she shouted out in shock just as the wind died down

"You're taste in men is as impeccable as ever Kasumi!" Misaki laughed as she gazed down in disbelief to what her new crush had done with a simple jump – it looking as if a bomb had been dropped where he had jumped from. "So you're little boy-toy is alive, is he alright?" she asked with a grin as she felt the adrenaline pumping through her, her heart beating a mile a minute in her chest.

This was all just so crazy, so unexpected, hell her hands were still shaking at the moment as she held onto the grocery bag of the _living god_ she had just met. This was without a doubt the most heart-pounding, stomach churning, gut-wrenching five-minutes of her life.

She knew her friend felt the same.

"Of course! You won't believe where he is at the moment though!" she said with a smile of her own, feeling a mile high at the moment.

"Trust me, at this point there isn't a thing that you can tell me right now that I wouldn't believe" she laughed as she sat down on the ledge overlooking the vast ruins before her that she was finally starting to realize was nothing more than a massive footprint.

Sitting next to her friend Kasumi looked at her with a mile-wide grin, their previous fear replaced by the feeling of being in the middle of something great – it was as if they were the supporting characters of two great super heroes. As if with just the fact that they were there, seeing this happen, they had done their part.

It was a humbling experience…

"Well it's actually really funny you see he's…" she started as she told her sister figure what was happening just as they felt the earth shake beneath them as the giant was felled.

Misaki listening to her friend with a small smile as she listened to her every word with rapt attention, grocery bag in hand.

-x-

 _ **Moments prior with Naruto**_

Naruto was not a happy camper, his current situation doing nothing to discourage his bad mood either. For at the moment he was currently ascending the giant idiot that had stepped on him, even worse was that the place where he was gripping at the moment was none other than the giant's naked butt cheek.

'Fuck my life' Naruto thought pessimistically, he having taken the extra precautions after he noticed that a human was currently riding atop the giant's shoulder.

Sure there were several other ways that he could get up there, but they would all be either too grand in scale or flashy to go unnoticed. So he had opted to encase his arms in thick bark that was enveloped by numerous vein like vines along his arms, he limiting how strong his grip was lest he rip a chunk out of the giant and risk harm to the human as it panicked. Hell all he would need to do was sharpen his limbs and cut off the giant's leg while he was climbing it and he could have downed it instantly.

However, he opted out of this as he was trying to resolve this situation non-lethally due to one single thing…

He had no idea this was a mysterious being, "Hey asshole put on some pants!" Naruto shouted up trying to catch their attention only to not be heard as he was still too far away, causing him to frown at that.

"Stupid idiots taking cosplaying too seriously" Naruto mumbled under his breath in frustration

Yes, Naruto having noticed that the energy signature of the giant was also human along with that of the being riding on its shoulder had come to the conclusion that they must be cosplayers. Obviously inspired by the anime Attack on Giant, which featured similar looking giants. In fact he already had an entire background scenario in mind after he noticed that the human riding the giant was wearing a lab-coat…

* * *

 _ **Naruto's Mind Doodles**_

" _Aha, I've finally done it! I have finally completed my super growth formula! With this we will surely be the talk of this year's Anime Vine, probably get a girlfriend, and possibly even move out of our mom's basement!" a dorky looking guy wearing a lab coat shouted out as he held a beaker with a glowing fluid inside of it into the air proudly._

" _Really!? Even the part about muscle-men and cats!?" a muscular guy asked excitedly, he wearing a white shirt depicting a girl with bubblegum pink hair from Tokyo Nya Nya shooting off a peace sign – it straining against his overly muscular frame._

" _Yes even the part – wait, what?" the scientist said as he turned towards the man in confusion only to shake his head at that, "Never mind that, with this we will be finally be able to show those fools what for, and finally get the respect we so rightfully deserve!"_

" _That's great! What does it do!?" the muscular man asked, his curiosity having gotten the better of him as the excitement the scientist displayed was nearly contagious._

" _Well, uh, it's a super growth formula – it makes things grow" the scientist answered awkwardly, Naruto's lack of knowledge concerning such things finally presenting itself._

" _Wow! That sound's awesome – I'll finally be a_ _ **super**_ _muscle-man rather than just a regular one!" the muscular man said excitedly as he looked at the beaker with stars in his eyes, he really only having heard what he wanted to hear._

" _Well yes, but it would be more along the lines of a giant than a man" the scientist explained, this doing nothing to discourage the muscular man._

" _Oh, so that's why you wanted to cosplay for Attack on Giant this year" the muscle main commented in realization, getting a nod from the scientist in turn._

" _Yes, moreover I even went so far as making it cherry flavored in order to help it go down easier!" the scientist exclaimed proudly with a smile_

" _My favorite! You thought of everything big bro!" the muscular man shouted out in excitement as he took the beaker from his hand and downed it all in one gulp._

 _It did taste like cherry…_

 _Suddenly the beaker shattered onto the floor as the muscle man clutched his chest in apparent pain before he started glowing, his muscles expanding rapidly as his body grew greatly in proportion._

 _Then in a flash of light and a sprinkle of science he was a giant._

 _The End_

* * *

 _ **Real World**_

"That actually would have been awesome to watch, I bet I'm pretty close with what happened too…" Naruto said with a large grin as he continued on his merry way, already at the creature's mid-back as he continued his ascent.

Seeing the creature stop for a moment, he observed as with a single swipe of its hand it leveled an entire sector of the city in an instant. The sheer pressure of the attack capable of utterly destroying the landscape and sending entire skyscrapers flying.

In an instant his entire demeanor and stance concerning the situation changed as he noticed that these guys weren't just messing around but were getting a good deal of people hurt if not killed. That or they were too in character for their own good.

Jamming his free hand into the giant's spinal column he quickly spread his roots into the titanic figure as he targeted its nervous system in an effort to end this quickly while minimizing any more loss of life. His hand cutting through the creature's hide like flesh and embedding straight into muscle as blood spilled freely from the wound, however he had vastly underestimated the creature's muscle density.

" **Big bro it hurts!"** the giant bellowed out in anguish as he thrashed in pain at the sensation of thousands of roots burrowing into his back and crawling under his flesh. The giant clawing at his flesh as he tried to combat the painful sensation that was setting his insides on fire.

"Shit!" Naruto spat as he held on with a tenuous grip while observing the giant demolish entire city blocks in his pain filled thrashing.

"Are you alright little bro!?" the scientist asked worriedly, afraid that his steroid might be causing his muscles to rupture similar to his second batch test.

" **My back…"** the giant grounded out through grit teeth and he bent over in pain

Looking to where his brother was referring to the older brother managed to barely spot what looked like a blonde haired teen with strange looking eyes climbing his brother with monstrous looking hands as what looked like thousands of roots spread in all directions below him.

"What the hell!? Little bro we have company on your back, he's the one that's hurting you! Don't let him get in the way of our dream – after all we are the greatest brothers to ever walk the earth are we not!?" the older brother shouted encouragingly, earning the younger brother's roar of approval in response.

" **I will make you proud big bro!"** he roared as he bent his knees and prepared to leap in an effort to dislodge his assailant.

"Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere you cosplaying jerk!" Naruto shouted as he pulled the arm that wasn't currently embedded into the titan's back and slammed an open palm thrust into the titan's back, this in an effort to disable the nerves in the giant's legs.

Sure the giant's incredible muscle density might have slowed down his initial root attack down to a crawl, but there was no defense against an attack that centered around injecting one's own energy into their opponent. Especially when said opponent had no internal energy to employ to defend themselves.

However for the energy wave to travel the necessary distance would take precious seconds to accomplish, seconds he simply did not have. Taking a massive leap that cratered the ground below it in the process the giant was sent airborne as it jumped thousands of meters into the air. The mere action being so sudden that it caused Naruto who was hanging on for dear life to be catapulted upwards with it.

Thinking up of a quick plan as the sudden jolt upwards hit him, he allowed himself to shot forwards ahead of the giant at high speed. Just as both of them reached their peak and started falling down he created a wooden spike from the palm of his hand and quickly shot it off to the side in order to cause him to spin around and be looking straight down at his opponent.

Quickly creating a ripple under his feet in mid-air as he stuck to it before he bent his knees for a second and launched himself blasting forwards. Coming down at high speed straight down towards the giant that had just landed and destroyed a good two sectors of the city in the process he observed as the giant's knees buckled under him as the effects of his earlier attack manifested.

Spinning in order to gain momentum he descended on the giant's head with a ground splitting axe kick. The only thing saving the giant's life being it's reinforced and unusually thick skull as his head slammed into the ruined highway beneath it with enough force to split it in two. Falling inaudibly beside the giant's side he looked at his handiwork appraisingly.

"This should at least net me three hero points for stopping these corrupt cosplayers," he remarked passively, "Wait where did the skinny one go?" he asked himself as he saw the guy wasn't on his brother's shoulder any longer

Hearing a far off feminine shriek he looked up only to see the mad scientist from earlier screaming like a lunatic as he fell from thousands of feet up in the air.

"That idiot, if I couldn't hang on there was no way he could" Naruto sighed as he walked a way's away and caught the idiot less than three feet off the ground, the man having seemingly fainted mere seconds from his 'inevitable' death.

"Well that could have gone worse" Naruto remarked with a lighthearted grin as he gave himself a pat on the back for resolving the situation single handedly before his brother even arrived. Hell this might be even be worth four points since he supposed that the mad scientist could count as a villain in his own right as he was likely the cause of all this in the first place.

Placing the man carefully down on the ground in a safe place, he made his way over back to the knocked out giant as he looked upon it thoughtfully.

"How the hell am I supposed to clean this up? Well whatever, I'll leave it to the government to take care of it." He said as he started to walk away only to be met with a giant fist speeding towards him, he only having enough time for his eyes to widen before he was sent back blasting through four buildings in the process before landing inside an apartment building on the ninth floor.

Pulling his head out of the ground the giant, who was still on its knees, looked up into the sky with a blank gaze. Before roaring it's fury to heavens as the windows of buildings for miles shattered instantly and the crater around it grew in size from the power of his roar alone.

"Shit! It's still kicking!? Seriously, maybe I should have cut off its legs after all!" he shouted in anger as he pulled himself out of a now ruined couch with his outfit in tatters, he looking more angry than hurt all things considered.

He had let his guard down and payed for it as his defenses were lowered.

Now in a blind drug induced fury, the towering titan tried to stand only to collapse onto its knees once more as its legs were still very much numbed and unresponsive. Roaring in frustration, Naruto noticed that with the absence of his brother the creature had lost all sign of hint of coherent thought and reason.

What had once been a misguided human had turned to nothing more than a wild rampaging animal.

Trashing around it sent a multitude of buildings flying in its anger, before Naruto found that it was heading towards the metropolitan areas where evacuations were still very much ongoing. His seeds were already in place – he just needed to grab its attention and draw it in.

Seeing the giant about to crash through a section that still had heavy traffic in it he decided to act.

Jumping from the floor he was situated on he landed heavily down onto the street below as he slammed his hands into the ground.

" **Mudslide"** he intoned as in an instant the ground before him seemed to liquefy for several kilometers as the ground went from a solid steel grey to a light earthy brown. The giant stumbling forwards as he lost purchase of the terrain and crashed down onto its side.

Glaring at his adversary and how close he had come to mass genocide, he decided to attempt to difuse the situation as quick as possible.

" **Fissure"** he whispered just as a massive fissure cut across the landscape, separating the giant from the populated areas of the city.

Not wasting any time he quickly slammed his foot into the ground causing a massive circular crevice to cut across the terrain in front of him before he dug his hands into ground and lifted up a veritable mountain of earth. It having entire skyscrapers littering its surface, some of which toppled off as he lifted it.

"Well this should be sufficient," he commented to himself just as he hurled the massive clump of earth towards the giant, it slamming into the side of its head just as it managed to gain a foothold on the terrain.

The attack managing to cause the giant's head to snap to the side as it crashed back down into the massive mud pit it found itself currently trapped in.

However Naruto observed as the giant got back up just as quickly as it went down, he looking around wildly in search of the perpetrator before his eyes settled upon the sole human standing at the edge of the massive crater where the large chunk of earth had been ripped from.

Naruto waving towards the giant with a polite smile just as it roared at him angrily. The giant sloshing through the mud trap he found himself encased in before it grabbed onto firm ground again.

'Why the hell did I have to resolve to settle this without killing the two of them' he thought regretfully as he saw the creature grab great chunks of earth as it hurriedly crawled toward him while roaring at him in rage.

However he knew why he had done it, there was just something about the notion of two brothers with bonds working together than filled him with a sense of nostalgia – that reminded him of his own relationship with his own brother…

Maybe if they had decided to be villains rather than heroes then the two of them would be walking a path similar to that of the two would be villains he was currently facing.

So it was that with the titan bearing down on him as it quickly approached while ripping the land asunder that he lifted up a single hand in a stopping gesture. With it less than half a mile away as it loomed over him and cast its massive shadow down upon him it simply…stopped.

" **Nativity of a World of Trees"** Naruto intoned with a powerful voice just as the giant twisted forwards before thousands of trees burst from its back and grew upwards, the giant lying still before the awesome weight of nature. However even as the trees grew in size and they all merged into a single massive tree, the giant still refused to fall.

It lying motionless before him as it glared at him with all the raw hate it could muster. However just as the trees had robbed him of movement so too did it rob him of all his animalistic blind hatred as a feeling of peace descended upon him. Slowly lulling him into a sense of peace and serenity…

Before his brother suddenly arrived out of seemingly nowhere and delivered a bone shattering punch to the giant's jaw, he knocking it out instantly as if fell with a deafening crash.

"Did I win?" Saitama asked as a he stood upon the knocked out giant's head

"What the hell man, you totally just stole my kill!" Naruto raged at his brother

"Kill? I thought you were trying to disable him and were gunning for non-lethal with how long you were stretching it out." Saitama remarked

"I mean it as an expression, you can't just come out of nowhere like that and steal my thunder bro – that's cheating!" Naruto shouted back as he pointed an accusing finger towards Saitama

"Since when are we using game rules? Its simple little bro, you wanted to get the score multiplier and get the high score while I opted for a one-hit KO." He remarked passively, not willing to admit his mistake as he regarded the fallen giant, "This guy's pretty big, he's worth what three points?"

"That's not fair!" Naruto shouted childishly as he walked up to his brother, "I was the one that weakened him enough to be captured in the first place, it's as if some random trainer in pocket monsters decided to bag the pokemon you got down to red! It's just underhanded is what it is!" Naruto declared fiercely

"I don't care either way, would you be fine with splitting the points then?" Saitama asked while utterly unfazed at his brother's outburst.

At the suggestion Naruto's mood instantly lightened, "Fine, 75-25 since I did all the work" Naruto declared

"50-50 as to split something means equal portions and that way no one gets ahead" Saitama offered

"70-30, just look at me bro my costume is ruined, I deserve a bit off the top for trying so hard for a non-lethal on such a troublesome opponent." Naruto argued

"60-40, after all you have no wounds and getting our clothes torn up happens all the time" Saitama replied with a dismissive shrug

"Deal, that rounds to two points for me and one for you" Naruto agreed with a pleased grin

"I have some other points to claim at home later" Saitama commented while thinking back on his earlier heroic action

"As do I," Naruto responded as he thought back to the scientist, "Wait… where are our groceries?"

"Well I left them with someone at the store." Saitama replied dismissively after a moment's silence

"Is it someone we can trust? You remember what happened with that one homeless person and our shoes." Naruto reminded Saitama as he looked at him questioningly

"I'm sure about not being sure whether they will still be there when we get back." He responded with a straight face

"Oh… wait what?" Naruto asked in confusion before he shook his head at that, it was not even worth bothering to ask.

"I can see your right nipple," Saitama commented offhandedly, causing Naruto to look down and see that this was in fact true.

"Thanks for the heads up, I need a change of clothes bro" Naruto responded, utterly unfazed at the fact he was currently dressed in the rags of his former outfit.

"I think there was a clothes store by that one dango shop-"

"The giant stepped on it" Naruto cut in

"Darn, wait what about that one store with uniforms and stuff across from the place that sells figurines and manga." Saitama suggested earning a disgusted look from Naruto at that

"Ehh, I don't want to wear a school uniform – they're gross. I'd rather go naked." Naruto declared firmly as he crossed his arms across his chest and pouted childishly.

"Be reasonable, we can't afford anything else other than second hand clothes at the moment and due to your age you would qualify for that 50% discount. Do you really want to deal with second hand stuff again?" Saitama asked with a raised brow

"After the lice infestation last summer I would rather tape leaves to my nipples and try to pass myself off as environmentalist," Naruto replied back a little too quickly, "Fine I'll do it, but I'm picking out the uniform alright?"

"Fine by me"

-x-

 ** _A change of clothes and a brief stop at a half ruined candy store later…_**

"Big bro I don't like the idea of taking without asking, it's like looting" Naruto said as he took two lollipops from the counter of the candy store.

"Just put down some change on the counter and put ten yen in the tip jar over there, it doesn't matter if the clerk isn't here as long as we pay" Saitama said as he wasted no time unwrapping his lollipop the moment it was handed to him.

"I guess…" Naruto said doubtfully as he fished around his gama-chan wallet, "Hey do you have exact change?"

"I thought you did? What do you need?" Saitama asked as he pulled out his own wallet

"Twenty yen"

"Got it" he said as he handed Naruto twenty yen, ten of which Naruto put into the tip jar before putting the rest of the change he had on hand on the counter.

Naruto was currently wearing a white dress shirt with a red tie hanging loosely around his neck as a black dress jacket with silver trims. His hair still a spiky mess at the moment.

Popping the lollipop into his mouth Naruto looked at his brother expectantly, "We going to pick up the groceries now?"

"Yep, we need to get home soon to get started on dinner" Saitama said as they walked out of the store into the ruined street outside, a car having apparently crashed through the storefront and been seemingly abandoned.

The street looking like a set from a post-apocalyptic film as they maneuvered through the wreckage at a sedate pace.

Just another day in Z-City…


End file.
